History Main / YouHaveOutLivedYourUsefulNess

* Silk production. Silkworms have to be cared for and fed to keep them alive through their larva period, but once they've spun the fibers for their cocoon, they're simply boiled and discarded. (Some cuisines -- [[ForeignQueasine the Vietnamese and Thai, for example]] -- cook them, for a nutritious and tasty source of protein.)

* The ''ättestupa'' of the Pre-Christian Scandinavians. Elderly members of community were thrown off a cliff and euthanized as useless eaters.

* In a non-living example, the "pets vs. cattle" metaphor in IT. On-premises servers are "pets" in that they require care and feeding and administrators will make configuration changes to nurse them back to health, similar to a pet receiving veterinary care. Cloud servers are "cattle," that are deleted (euthanized) in case of failure and restored.

* In a non-living example, the "pets vs cattle" metaphor in IT. On-premises servers are "pets" in that they require care and feeding and administrators will make configuration changes to nurse them back to health, similar to a pet receiving veterinary care. Cloud servers are "cattle," that are deleted (euthanized) in case of failure and restored.

** Teridax arranged for the destruction of his entire [[BrotherhoodOfEvil brotherhood]], to ensure that no other Makuta would be left to fight against or otherwise threaten him once his plan succeeds. He sent some of his best men to Karda Nui, the "heart of the universe", to keep the Toa Nuva from re-energizing it until the timing was right. One thing he didn't tell them was that the reactivation of Karda Nui would unleash an energy storm that vaporizes anything within it. He also intended to off the Nuva and whoever else resided in Karda Nui (whom he had used as his unsuspecting pawns), but they managed to escape the storm. However, supplementary material later revealed that he had kept some Makuta alive to enslave them and make them produce Kraata slugs to power his [[{{mook}} Rahkshi]].

* ''Machinima/GamingAllStars'':

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In the anime adaptation of ''LightNovel/AiNoKusabi'', this overlaps with RewardedAsATraitorDeserves. [[spoiler:Iason has successfully used former Bison gang member Kirie to sell out and destroy the gang in a BatmanGambit. When Kirie shows up to collect his reward money, he's instead taken by an android posing as Iason. He's not killed, but his ''[[{{Brainwashed}} mind is altered]]'' and he's turned into an unthinking and obedient [[SexSlave Pet]].]]
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', this is the ultimate fate of ''all'' Warriors. When their [[YourDaysAreNumbered Tenure]] is close to ending and their powers begin to wane, a successor is selected to [[EatenAlive eat]] them in order to inherit their powers. Should a Warrior act out or make mistakes, their superiors will consider whether to end their Tenure ''early''. It's revealed that [[spoiler: Reiner Braun]] narrowly avoided this fate after failing his mission. It took 4 years of exceptional military service on the front lines to get his superiors to allow him to finish his Tenure.
* This is common with Szilard from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'', who considers anybody to be disposable, including homunculi created from his own cells, to misfit gangsters given an incomplete immortality serum JUST to ensure they are easy to dispose of -- if you think that's a contradiction, you need to watch the show.
** [[FrenchJerk Huey]] also views the Lemeurs, including his own doting daughter, as this.
* Emperor Barodius, the third BigBad from ''Anime/{{Bakugan}}'', was a big fan of this as well as YouHaveFailedMe. If he didn't kill you, he'd [=brainwash=] you instead.
** Mag Mel, the BigBad after Barodius, outright told his CoDragons when he created them that the moment they were no longer of use to him, their lives would end. [[spoiler:When Mistress Sellon actually does outlive her usefulness, he promptly kills her in an absolutely chilling way as she's pleading for him to spare her, then [[DevourTheDragon eats her energy to fuel himself]]. He then does the exact same thing to Anubias in the next episode.]]
** Back in the first season, Masquerade also subjected his original Bakugan Partner Reaper to this after he got his hands on the significantly stronger Hydranoid. During a 2-on-1 brawl against Dan and Shun, Masquerade ends up putting both Reaper and Hydranoid on a gate card that only allows one Bakugan to survive, and then sends Reaper to the Doom Dimension. When Dan calls him out on it, Masquerade merely replies that Reaper's ''services are no longer needed''.
* In ''Anime/BattleGirlsTimeParadox'', Ieyasu acquires the Crimson Armor and goes mad with power. She declares she doesn't need her minions anymore and blasts them out of the building. Despite this, they remain loyal to her, and return to her service when she is defeated and the armor is destroyed.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** The BigBad of the first half, [[spoiler:Sosuke Aizen]], does this to three characters [[spoiler:(Momo Hinamori, Rukia Kuchiki, and Tier Harribel)]] at different times. [[spoiler:And yet all three of them survived.]]
** Likewise, the BigBad of the Bount filler arc loved doing this, to the point where "you were just pawns" almost seems like his CatchPhrase.
** During the Lost Agent arc, the reader learns that [[spoiler:Soul Society]] planned to do this to [[spoiler:Ichigo]], namely by using them as bait to lure out [[spoiler:Kugo Ginjo]] and then kill both. [[spoiler:However, after Ichigo defeated Aizen]], they changed their minds, to the point that [[spoiler:the entire Gotei 13 loaned some of their reiatsu to restore his powers just in time for Ichigo to defeat Kugo]].
** Furthermore, the BigBad of the second half of the series, [[spoiler:Yhwach, kills Luders Friegen after the latter finished his task]].
** One of the Sternritters, Robert Accutrone, panics on realizing their leader [[spoiler:Yhwach]] has left them behind. That means they're no longer useful to him and are nothing more than [[spoiler:fodder for [[ThePurge his Auswählen]], his energy absorption ability, which subsequently kills said subordinate and several others. Out of the targeted Ritters, only three (Liltotto, Giselle and Bazz-B) managed to dodge it and survive.]]
** In the climax of the final arc, [[spoiler:Yhwach suddenly decides he doesn't need ''any'' of his subordinates and performs another Auswählen to wipe them all out.]] That turned out to bite him in the ass, however, [[spoiler:as not only did it save the Soul Reapers and Uryuu from dying at the hands of two of the most powerful Sternritters, but Haschwalth chooses in his dying moments to heal Uryuu's near-fatal wounds, which allows him to fuck up Yhwach at the critical moment Ichigo needs to finish him off.]]
* Alphard from ''Anime/{{Canaan}}'' simply decides to [[spoiler:discard Liang Qi by deliberately leaving her behind in a building that is about to be bombed]]. [[spoiler:Liang Qi]] survives the betrayal, but [[spoiler:[[VillainousBreakdown boy howdy does she ever lose it]]]].
* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', the organization GREMLIN tends to do this to its low level members. GREMLIN considers anybody who isn't privy to the organization's true objectives to be expendable.
* In ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'', [[BigBad Priscilla]] tells [[spoiler:Raki]] that he has outlived his usefulness to her and that she is [[IAmAHumanitarian hungry after seven years of not eating]]... [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope and saves his life from the Destroyer's rods.]]]]
** In general, this is also the Organization's attitude toward Claymores who have become too old, troublesome or [[HeKnowsTooMuch know too many things]].
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has its AntiHero protagonist do this with mind-controlled enemies. [[CombatPragmatist Somewhat justified by pragmatism.]] One of the occasions he doesn't really comes back to bite him in the ass on more than a few occasions.
** [[spoiler:Then, as a subversion, his "allies" do it to HIM. They get away with it too, sort of.]]
** At the beginning of R2 [[spoiler:Lelouch is stripped of his memories by Charles and used in a plan to lure out C.C., so when the Britannian soldiers find C.C., they plan to kill Lelouch since he's fulfilled his purpose]]. Invoked early on by Charles when he declares Lelouch and Nunnally weak and has them sent as bargaining chips to Japan, which is subsequently invaded with them still there. Lelouch survives, [[ItsPersonal but now he's really pissed.]] [[spoiler:He did this not to use them, but to hide them from his murderous and deceitful immortal brother.]]
* In ''Anime/CrossAnge'', Embryo does this a lot. When his men are typically following him, he leaves them and intends the [[OmnicidalManiac destruction of everyone including them]]. He even does this to Jill and kills her despite her being his old girlfriend. He even leaves the Diamond Royal Knights on his own so he can try and marry Ange, causing them all to have a SanitySlippage.
* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', this is is the fate of almost everyone used by [[VillainProtagonist Light Yagami]], even if they are close to him, so that he can safely cover his tracks after they had served their purpose. Also the fate of many pawns that served under TheMafia group of Mello, especially when they were trying to get the titular ArtifactOfDoom. Surprisingly, the last use of the trope in the story wasn't done by either of those two, but by [[spoiler:Ryuk on Light himself because Light had been permanently stopped from killing and thus no longer held his interest -- reminding us that, despite his personality as a lovable goof, Ryuk is still a {{Shinigami}} to the core]].
* ''Manga/DigimonVTamer01'': Etemonkey, an Etemon, was Daemon's second in command, and a huge pain in the ass for Taichi and Zero. And then, within eight pages of [=Neo Saiba=]'s debut, he Jogresses Devimon and Ogremon and kills him.
** ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'': Upon his rebirth, [=VenomMyotismon=] promptly devours Demidevimon, his sole remaining loyal minion. He also does this quite famously to Arukenimon in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02''.
** ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' features a non-villainous example: Renamon strings along the Deva Vajramon (who has an interest in her) in order to get information regarding his master. Once she has the information, she basically tells him to get lost (and ends up destroying him after digivolving into Taomon).
* In ''Anime/DotHackSign'': Morganna attacks Tsukasa after Tsukasa brings Subaru to the hidden area where Aura was held. This too used an alternate phrase, "I don't need you anymore."
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
** In the first ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' arc, Vegeta kills his longtime partner Nappa because because he was no longer useful since Goku had paralyzed him.
** Invoked verbatim by Perfect Cell in the English dub of Kai, spoken about his Cell Games ring, of all things.
** Demon King Piccolo back in ''Manga/DragonBall'', in regards to Pilaf, Mai, and Shu after they set him free and helped him gather the Dragon Balls to restore his youth. He unceremoniously threw the hapless trio out of their airship.
** Babidi's EstablishingCharacterMoment is having Spopopvich and Yamu executed on the spot as soon as they give him Gohan's siphoned Ki. The Supreme Kai even states outright that Babidi ''always'' has his minions killed when he doesn't need them anymore. Amusingly enough, when Babidi finds out they brought him far more energy than he thought they did, he thinks he didn't give them enough credit and maybe he should have kept them around after all, though he just shrugs and thinks it's still no big deal. Later, Babidi lets Buu kill Dabura for similar reasons, and this ultimately contributes to Babidi's end when Buu turns on him- with no minions left to save him, Babidi is swiftly killed.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'', Freeza kills all 1000 of his own {{Mooks}} with a single attack after they're defeated by the Z-Fighters. ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' changed this by instead having them get caught in the energy released when Freeza assumes his true form, but considering who we're talking about he'd probably label it a happy accident.
* In ''Manga/ExcelSaga'', Il Palazzo [[spoiler:abandons Excel to die on a desert island, and throws Elgala out on the street once she reveals she knows Competent!Excel is an imposter. She then uses a corpse-like Hyatt's authorization to regain access to the base, a long while later.]]
* [[ArcVillain Brain]] from ''Manga/FairyTail'' pulled this on [[PoisonousPerson Cobra]] after the later's failure to defeat [[TheHero Natsu]]. This was bad for two reasons: One, Cobra was just about to kill a barely conscious Natsu, who would go on to defeat Brain [[spoiler:or rather, his SuperpoweredEvilSide, Zero]], and two, Cobra survived [[spoiler:and after the TimeSkip, would pay Brain back [[EtTuBrute full-force]] in front of the other members of their group after they were released (through Cobra's own actions at that) from prison, with not a single one caring.]] Probably should have thought that one through better.
* As the trope image shows, the Homunculi from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' are prolific perpetrators of this trope, [[TokenGoodTeammate Greed]] being the exception.
** In one of the translations, Lust actually says this line to-a-T to Cornello in the first volume of the manga... Right before she impales his head with her ultimate spear (See page image). In the 2003 version, Gluttony eats Cornello instead, but the idea is the same.
** In the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime]], [[spoiler:[[BigBad Dante]]]] does this to anyone who she [[BodySurf surfs into]]. [[spoiler:Lyra]] learned this [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe the hard way]].
** An example of the "more useful dead" variation: [[spoiler:the gold-toothed alchemist]] was in charge of readying the five sacrifices needed for the Promised Day. [[spoiler:When he fails to get Mustang to perform human transmutation and as such become the fifth and final sacrifice, Wrath and Pride swoop in, mortally wound the doc, and use him as the raw material in a transmutation that they force upon Mustang.]]
** [[spoiler:[[BigBad Father]] tries this on Hohenheim, Roy, Izumi, and the Elric brothers after they have fulfilled their role as his "sacrifices". Luckily, Hohenheim is able to protect them all with the power of his philosopher's stone.]]
** The sheer extent that the Homunculi do this really can't be overstated: They regularly have scientists develop new methods of producing Philosophers Stones, then murder them all, and [[HumanResources use them as the ingredients for said new stones]]. They slaughter all of Greed's henchmen when they side with Greed after he splits from them. Greed himself is [[spoiler:destroyed and recreated without his memories]] for refusing to work for them. [[spoiler:Kimblee]] is absorbed by Pride when the latter decides his only remaining use is as a power booster. Barry the Chopper does a HeelFaceTurn expressly because he understands that they're going to murder him once he's not useful anymore. Most notably, [[spoiler:the military high command has been promised that when Father [[HumanSacrifice activates the nationwide transmutation circle for the mass human sacrifice]], they'll be in the safe zone and become gods with him; when the time actually comes, Father doesn't even bother trying to inform them and simply begins the ritual, having always intended for them to die with everybody else.]]
* Nakago of ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' does this to one of his fellow Seiryuu warriors after he receives the MacGuffin he was ordered to steal (although this is partly because the man's "human form" was killed, making him little more than a smart wolf).
* In Chapter 81 of ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'', Giacomo Dante has been captured and the Turin facility secured, [[spoiler:then tanks roll in, PFC Aprea is arrested and the SWA is being told to surrender to the military. Turns out, the Prime Minister now seeks to pin the whole incident on the SWA and get them labelled an anti-government organization.]]
* Hakuron from ''Manga/HaouAiren'' does this ''several'' times. It's very, ''very'' bitterly lampshaded by Reilan right before he shoots her dead [[spoiler: for setting up his current girlfriend Kurumi to be gangraped]].
--> '''Reilan:''' "Kurumi! Take a good look at him! This is the fate destined to those who aren't useful to Hakuron anymore!"
* ''Manga/InoHeadGargoyle'': After Takeshi gets identified by the police and they raid his apartment, the leader of the Blue Rose gang says he'll have to pay for his mistake with his life. He shows up in Tokyo Bay the next day.
* In ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean]]'', after Johngalli A. incapacitates Jotaro along with another person's Stand, Whitesnake, [[YourSoulIsMine who had converted Jotaro's soul into a disc and took it out of him]], Whitesnake swipes Johngalli A.'s gun and shoots him in the neck, killing the only person in the world who knew his User's identity.
* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': Once her EvilPlan is entering its final stages, [[BigBad Ragyo Kiryuin]] "rewards" all the employees of her [[MegaCorp company]] by gathering them up at headquarters and [[HumanResources feeding them all]] to Life Fiber COVERS, having decided their only remaining use is as PowerUpFood. Not long after, she does nearly the exact same thing to [[spoiler:her [[TheDragon Dragon]] Nui Harime as part of a last ditch effort to defeat the heroes and salvage the plan. Unlike the aforementioned employees, Nui is [[AxCrazy crazy]] and [[UndyingLoyalty blindingly loyal]] enough to accept outliving her usefulness gladly, even [[DrivenToSuicide doing the deed on Ragyo's behalf by chopping her own head off]].]]
* Subverted in ''Anime/MacrossFrontier''. Various baddies attempt to do so a couple of times, but [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption it always fails]].
* In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', [[spoiler:Due, after killing Regius]] tells Zest that his "usefulness and (his) revenge are at an end". [[spoiler:In an inversion of the typical result of this trope, ''Zest'' kills ''her'']].
* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': In Episode 31, three workers of the Photon Atomic Research Institute were kidnapped by TheDragon and hypnotized in piloting the latest batch of [[{{Robeast}} Mechanical Beasts]] BigBad Dr. Hell had built (Megaron P1, P2, and P3). However one of the weapons of Megaron generated such a heat blast would surely kill whoever was sitting in the cockpit. Hell and Ashura knew the three men surely would die during the battle, but as long as they died ''after'' they would have fulfilled their purpose, they did not care.
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', General Septem is tricked by Lady Une on behalf of OZ to give a live speech (aboard a plane fleeing the attack of the New Edwards Base) condemning peace with the space colonies and reaffirming Earth's resolve to the war. After ending the broadcast, Lady Une calmly and politely informs the General that his "services were no longer required," immediately before [[ThrownFromTheZeppelin opening a hatch under his seat]]. ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Then shooting him in the head on his way down]]''.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'''s Ribbons Almark does this quite a bit.
* This is standard procedure for Johan in ''Manga/{{Monster}}''. Anyone who's come into contact with him for whatever reason tend to die shortly after their role has been played.
* In ''Anime/MyHime'', the Obsidian Lord is planning to do this with his First District followers, including the OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness, [[spoiler:but Shizuru, going on a rampage fueled by her feelings for Natsuki, beats him to it]].
** Actually, Shizuru was the weapon the Obsidian Prince chose to end the lives of his First District cronies. Shizuru swore to Natsuki to get rid of "anything she didn't like", and First District had killed Natsuki's mother years prior. Observing this from the safety of his sanctum, the Obsidian Prince directs [[TheDragon Nagi]] to tell Shizuru ''exactly'' where to find Natsuki's enemies. [[InLoveWithYourCarnage They sit back and watch with amusement as Shizuru and her CHILD, Kiyohime, make short work of the MenInBlack]].
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** At the very start of the story, Mizuki manipulates Naruto into stealing the scroll of forbidden jutsu, then plans on disposing of Naruto once he's done. Thankfully, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Naruto defeats Mizuki using the technique he learned]].
** Orochimaru does this to two members of the Sound Genin team, [[spoiler:using them as living sacrifices required for the Edo Tensei technique.]] The third (and smartest) realized that Orochimaru saw them as {{Unwitting Pawn}}s before this and decided he would try and [[SpannerInTheWorks throw a wrench into his plans]] as payback... but picked the wrong way to do it and got killed, with Kabuto commenting that he had outlived his usefulness long ago just like the others.
** This trope comes back to haunt Orochimaru himself later as [[spoiler:Sasuke absorbs him after having learned everything that he could.]]
** Sasuke also does this later with [[spoiler:Karin when Danzo uses her as a human shield.]]
** Before the start of the Fourth Ninja World War, Tobi does this to [[spoiler:Konan, in order to grab Nagato's Rinnegan.]]
** During the Jubi revival arc, [[spoiler:Madara has Black Zetsu take control of Obito's body in order to fully revive Madara. Obito escapes the first attempt but not the second]].
** [[spoiler:Madara himself ends up becoming victim to this when Black Zetsu literally backstabs him and reveals that he's actually working for Kaguya Otsutuski.]]
* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', despite having successfully held off the [[spoiler:Ala Rubra till the ceremony to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt was over, the BigBad in a sneak attack shot both Nagi and Primum through the chest with a high piercing DeathRay]]. This wasn't due to [[spoiler:[[WeHaveReserves Primum being a casualty in the way]], because of the way the two were facing: Nagi's back turned to the direction of the on-coming attack]]. By the way that [[spoiler:Nagi had {{Neck Lift}}ed Primum, he likely watched the {{Black Cloak}}ed villain as the beam was fired, [[TechnicallyASmile smiling]] as it did]].
** [[spoiler:And then he did the exact same thing with Fate and Negi, after Fate had decided to stop fighting Negi.]]
* The ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' OVA has the ManBehindTheMan say this almost word for word when offing [[spoiler: the scientist that he blackmailed into recreating the Evil Gods]].
* ''Manga/OnePiece''
** In the very first chapter, Higuma the Bear, having incurred the wrath of Shanks and his men by threatening to kill Shanks' young friend Luffy, escapes to sea with Luffy as a hostage. Confident that he's far enough away, he decides to throw Luffy overboard and let him drown, since he no longer needs Luffy and wants to make Luffy pay for angering him. Moments later, the Lord of the Coast eats Higuma.
** Although no special line is used, this is the reason Captain Kuro tries to kill his entire crew, since he no longer needs them, and can't allow anyone who knows his [[SecretIdentity true identity]] to live.
** This also happened to Nico Robin when she was Miss All-Sunday, TheDragon for Baroque Works. Might be {{subverted}}, since she never intended to give her boss, Crocodile, the information he wanted anyway.
*** Not that Crocodile is a stranger to this trope himself. You're dead to him if you fail once, and if you're lucky you ''might'' get a second chance, but there's no way in hell a third's coming. Only [[NumberTwo Mr. 1 Daz Bonez]] is exempt from this, mostly because he's the only subordinate Crocodile actually ''likes''.
** The World Government does this to Gecko Moria, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea (seven powerful pirates that work for the government) after the Marineford War, due to both his bad performance in said war and his previous defeat at the hands of Luffy, deeming him too weak to be effective as a Warlord. He does manage to escape, however.
** In the Dressrossa Arc, in the B Block matches of the tournament, the contestants from Prodence form an alliance with the others, then when their allies grow weak, start picking them off so that their king will be the one who advances onward. Unfortunately, for them, one of them, Blue Gilly, realizes what they're up to, and defeats Dagama when Dagama tries to literally and figuratively stab Blue Gilly in the back, saying "I can't fathom who would be stupid enough to trust a slimy toad like you in the first place!!!"
** Charlotte "Big Mom" Linlin has a tendency to cast aside the fathers of her many offspring once she gives birth to said children. The Straw Hats meet Pound, whom Big Mom abandoned before he could even properly meet his children, [[spoiler:Chiffon and Lola]].
** [[PersonOfMassDestruction Kaido]] works with [[BigBadWannabe Kurozumi Orochi]] to get control over Wano, a proper base, and a steady weapon supply. After getting everything he needs and deciding he's ready to [[OmnicidalManiac declare war on the whole world]], Kaido immediately and casually [[OffWithHisHead cleaves Orochi's head off. Orochi, however, survives -he only got one of his ''eight'' snake heads cleaved- and wants payback]].
* ''Anime/PrettyCure'': Bel from ''Anime/DokiDokiPrecure'' pulls this on Leva and Gula in Episode 31 when they got weakened from their battle against Precure that he absorbs their dark energy, killing them off.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' provides many non-lethal examples:
** In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', Archie rewards his very loyal and very competent henchman, who successfully managed to steal the Blue Orb for him and is now inside a submarine, asking for a hand up, by sending the sub off after removing the device that equalized the pressure inside, effectively leaving the poor guy for dead. Apparently it would have been too much of an effort to pull him up. The henchman barely manages to make it to the surface but sadly, he goes in denial, refusing to believe that his boss abandoned him, and fights on to make sure no one stops Kyogre.
*** Cyrus is just as big an example, ignoring his loyal Admins to go into the world he intended to create.
** In [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries the anime]], we have Paul. When a Pokemon of his doesn't perform up to his expectations, it is released back into the wild.
*** Not as extreme an example, but in ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'', Mewtwo has put the local Nurse Joy under [[{{Brainwashed}} mind control]] to act as a sort of greeter to the people he has lured onto New Island, and upon revealing himself and sending one of the guests who tried to attack him flying through the room, he tells Nurse Joy her usefulness has ended and lifts her from the mind control to face her fate with the rest of the humans. Granted, Mewtwo was more of an AffablyEvil Pokemon than a BadBoss, but this is still an example.
*** In a two-part episode, [[GoldfishPoopGang Team Rocket]] helps an EvilChancellor depose a rightful king and take over the Kingdom. When the trio try to collect their reward from him, he tells them that he no longer needs them and blasts them away. They respond by pulling a brief HeelFaceTurn and secretly helping Ash and his friends restore the king.
* [[spoiler:Genkishi]] from ''Manga/Reborn2004'' had this happen to him seemingly just to show that people can actually die.
** And Xanxus kept apparently [[BadBoss doing this to all of his underlings]] whenever they lost matches with Tsuna' guardians, [[EvilLaugh laughing]] about how they're trash... only for it to be revealed that not a single one of them actually ''did'' die.
* ''Manga/SailorMoon'':
** In the Episode 13 of the original series, Queen Beryl gives Jadeite one last chance to defeat the guardians. After losing again, he attempts to reveal their identities only for Beryl to freeze him solid in a giant crystal.
** Mistress 9 does this to Kaolinite in the third season, which also happens to be the only season in which the "YouHaveFailedMe" trope is not used. Considering how nasty Kaolinite had been to Mistress 9's host body, Hotaru, this was also motivated by revenge.
** Sailor Iron Mouse is killed by Galaxia in ''Stars'' after one failure too many, by means of removing her bracelets.
* Zako Red in ''Anime/SDGundamForce'' gets deactivated by Commander Sazabi as soon as he's finished helping the invasion of Neotopia commence. This is particularly stupid because, aside from Zako Red, Sazabi was more or less SurroundedByIdiots.
** However, the show implies rather strongly that Zako Red is simply a drone operated by Sazabi to allow him to carry out his plans without revealing himself.
** And it turns out the Zakos and their bumbling commanders are only a small iteration of the Dark Axis anyway, as shown by the Doga Commandos and the villains that appear in the second half of the series.
** Later on, once the General, leader of the Dark Axis, develops the power to absorb gundams through a combination tractor beam/dimensional portal, Sazabi's superior Professor Gerbera decides there's no point in maintaining the alliance he had with Kibaomaru's forces.
* In ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'', Sorath steals Shana's [[FlamingSword Nietono no Shana]], which he had [[ItMustBeMine always coveted]], and callously throws away his [[{{BFS}} Blutsauger]], saying it is worthless to him now. This bites him in the ass when Shana picks up Blutsauger and continues the fight.
* In the first season of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', Eris created a copy of Rezo after the real one died. She blames the original's death on Lina and her friends and tries to kill them by unlocking "Rezo's Legacy". Eris released the power of Zanifar, which is absorbed into Copy Rezo. No sooner after this, Copy Rezo kills Eris because she no longer serves a purpose for him.
* In ''Anime/StrainStrategicArmoredInfantry'', [[spoiler:when Ralph finds the other Emily aboard the Libertad and knows that the traitor is about to move against him, he throws a coup and kills the rest of Medlock's crew, only keeping her around until she too "serves her purpose".]]
* In ''Anime/SwordArtOnlineTheMovieOrdinalScale'', Eiji joins up with Shigemura in the hopes of restoring the consciousness of the deceased Yuna, by stealing the memories of the SAO survivors (a process that might ''kill'' them all). After he gets beaten by Kirito, he tries to remind his employer that he promised to reunite him with Yuna, but Shigemura then says that, since Eiji spent the most time with Yuna, his memories are the most important ones and they'll be taken as well, much to his shock.
* Subverted in the final arc of ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms'' anime. Kouya has been manipulating Enki with a baby boy held in the mouth of his pet youma Rokuta, using the baby's life as ransom to take advantage of Enki's compassionate nature as a ''kirin''. Once Enki agrees to remain a hostage, he reminds Kouya that he doesn't need the baby as leverage anymore. Rather than let Rokuta devour the child -- which would be far more expected in context -- Kouya releases the poor baby and tells a servant to make sure he is returned to his parents.
* ''Anime/UsagichanDeCue'': The regular mooks realize that their bosses are perfectly willing to expend them in order to eradicate merged beings, and leave no loose ends to the genocide.
* Orikakan gets this from Niwe in ''VideoGame/{{Utawarerumono}}'' in the form of an arrow through the neck.
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam'', AxCrazy Fuala gets a pilot to help her in a plan against Uso's Gundam. [[spoiler:After the plan succeeds, she shoots the pilot in the face. Ironically, the pilot was named Kill.]]
* ''Anime/{{Windaria}}'' The BigBad quotes the trope name when speaking about Alan.
* Fuuma does this to Kusanagi in the ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'' movie after the latter gets his arm dismembered by the protagonists. The result is a RainOfBlood. The manga and anime versions of Fuuma do similar things.
* The ''{{VideoGame/Ys}} II'' OVA has [[BigBad Darm]] off [[TheDragon Dares]] in accordance with this trope. [[VillainBall Even though]] Dares was actually ''winning''.
* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
** In the original ''Manga/YuGiOh'' manga, Bandit Keith does this with Zygor, Sid, and Bonz when Bonz loses in a duel.
** And in ''Anime/YuGiOhTheMoviePyramidOfLight'', after Seto Kaiba has done enough damage to Yami Yugi and afterwards attempts and fails to destroy his Pyramid of Light card with his Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, Anubis appears and ambushes him, grabbing him by the head, tossing him aside and knocking him unconscious before taking his place in the duel with Yami, while saying, "You have served me well, little worm. But You Have Outlived Your Usefulness!"
** In ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', Alexander has no qualms with sacrificing his servants' monsters and banishing them from the game. He tries to convince Yugi to do the same, but gets called out about it.
** ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': The Three Emperors of Yliaster do this to Jeager and Team Catastrophe. They survive thanks to the heroes.
** ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'': The third-party villain Tron considers his own sons expendable, and after they lose their duels, uses their life forces to empower his own secret weapon.
* ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'': Gyokuro implies at one point that she'll do this to Akua, claiming she can't actually trust her because Akua is only her ''adoptive'' daughter. Ironically, she herself is subjected to this at the hands of the Masked Man, the ''real'' leader of Fairy Tale, who instead of saving her from being consumed by Alucard when he could easily have done so, stands back and watches her die.
* In ''Manga/ZatchBell'', Gash's evil twin Zeon hires a demon named Baltro to kidnap Kiyomaro's father and lure Gash into a battle. When Baltro and his partner fail to burn Gash's book, Zeon promptly burns Baltro's, stating that all losers in battles must return to the demon world and that those are the rules.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Arawn}}'': The Black Cauldron is constantly trying to pull this on its current owner, seducing a new one and then enticing them to feed it their predecessor's body and soul. Defied in the case of Owen after the Cauldron convinces him to resurrect Arawn as its new vessel: the Cauldron immediately tries to eat him but Arawn's loyalty to his friend forces the Cauldron to back down.
* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': Discussed in "A Little Knowledge", when a small-time crook discovers the secret identity of local crimefighter Jack-In-The-Box. He considers getting rich by selling the information to a local crime lord, then realizes that his life could be forfeit once the deal is complete.
* Subverted in ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}''. After interrogating a hapless security guard, Killer Croc declares he doesn't need him anymore… and thanks him before walking off.
* ''ComicBook/BeastWarsUprising'':
** [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized The Resistance]] tries to do this to both Cheetor and Preditron. They always intended to kill the latter (the Tripredacus Council asked for his death in exchange for their allegiance, and the Resistance saw them as more useful in the long term), while the former [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure starts openly criticizing the Resistance leadership for their amorality]] so much that they decide he'll be more useful as a martyr.
** In the GrandFinale, [[spoiler:Galva Convoy has the Vehicons kill the whole Builder Assembly the second he's gotten everything he needs from them; he's secretly an OmnicidalManiac, so he was always planning to kill them anyways by the end (though this is because he had been influenced and manipulated by the essence of the Destron leader Lord Imperious Delirious).]]
** A major event in the backstory is the Targetmaster Extirpation, where the Builders banished the Targetmasters to a colony world since the war was over and their powers made them a danger to the peace. [[spoiler:By "banished to a colony world", we mean they led the Targetmasters to said colony, then shot them all to death and buried them in shallow graves. Only a tiny few escaped alive.]]
* ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'': When TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt comes knocking, the dragons get rid of all their dragon knight servants/partners/protectors [[KillItWithFire rather spectacularly]] before [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere getting the hell out of Dodge]] through the same portal as the humans.
* ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer'': Han-Dié helps with the kidnapping of Mortimer and is himself captured to prevent any leaks. Xi-Li orders Han-Dié to translate the scrolls from Sho's diary. It's strongly implied that Xi-Li will dispose of him after his work is finished.
* ''ComicBook/CartoonNetworkSuperSecretCrisisWar'': As the ''Johnny Bravo'' one-shot shows, Aku is planning to kill his comrades once they've served their purpose. Later one-shots show that the other villains plan to do this as well.
* ''ComicBook/{{Chlorophylle}}'': [[BigBad Anthracite]] kills his mooks Escalope and Fricandeau so he can pass himself off as a hero. He also gets the mooks who helped him bring two predators into Coquefredouille blown up with a bomb so they can't talk.
* In an old comic called ''The Comet'', the title character may have been the {{Trope Namer|s}} [[http://www.cracked.com/article_20026_5-iconic-characters-you-didnt-know-were-ripoffs_p2.html when he shoots one gang member to death]]:
-->'''Comet:''' Bud, you've outlived your usefulness.
* In ''Conqueror of the Barren Earth'', this seems to be at least part of Jinal's motivation for killing Zhengla: once they have succeeded in conquering the world together, she does not need him anymore and decides that she would prefer to rule alone. Of course, she was also motivated by the desire for [[RapeAndRevenge revenge]]. This is an unusual example, in that it is the hero of the story doing this.
* In ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Brainiac and Lex Luthor are assembling an army of supervillains. Alexei Luthor, the Earth 2 counterpart of Lex Luthor, demands to know why Lex should be in command given he is just as smart. Brainiac responds that Alexei is correct and that the venture does not require two Luthors, then promptly vaporizes Alexei.
* ''ComicBook/{{Djinn}}'' opens with this trope when the Sultan orders his favorite [[RoyalHarem harem girl]] to get rid of her predecessor, saying that "her touch holds no more mystery for him". She does as he ordered, but [[EstablishingCharacterMoment also murders]] the [[MoralEventHorizon previous favorite's]] [[WouldHurtAChild little daughter]] which [[EvenEvilHasStandards disturbs the Sultan]].
* ''ComicBook/GIJoeIDW'': Cobra Commander eventually decides that Xamot has outlived his usefulness and orders one of his more loyal henchmen to shoot him. Unfortunately for the Commander, [[spoiler:the henchman in question is Chuckles, a G.I. Joe spy who has ''not'' pulled a FaceHeelTurn like the Commander thinks and has, in fact, been waiting for an excuse to blow the Commander’s head off. He figures this is as good an excuse as any. Cue [[BoomHeadshot Cobra Commander's head getting blown off]].]]
* Franchise/GreenLantern: The Star Sapphire gem once possessed a girl named Krystal so it could have a temporary body while it searched for its preferred host, Carol Ferris. It breaks into Carol's jet, {{Body Surf}}s into Carol, mocks Krystal as an inferior specimen unworthy of [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan's]] love, then flies away. Sadly, the confused, naked girl barely has enough time to ask what is going on before the jet crashes.
* In the comic of ''ComicBook/TheIncredibles'', this is what happens to Underminer when he objects to Xerek using him and the Incredibles-decorated mecha as a punching bag in a large scheme to discredit the supers.
* ComicBook/TheJoker from Franchise/{{Batman}} often does this with his henchmen after he feels they have fulfilled their purpose. Or even if they [[AxCrazy haven't, really]].
** Joker also repeatedly tries to do this to Harley Quinn -- in part because he does have feelings for her and ''hates'' having those feelings. He regularly fails and she regularly comes back to him, and as time went on he stopped doing it... so often.
** In ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'', [[spoiler:ComicBook/TheJoker reveals that he has done this to a long chain of Harley Quinns before the present one. He tries to do the same to her. However, she subverts it by escaping him and letting herself be put in prison]].
** He also does this often to allies, teammates and partners he doesn't particularly like -- adaptations have made this a character trait: after getting what he wanted he tends to screw over the poor fools who thought it would be a good idea to work with him. Or are merely desperate enough to do so.
* ''ComicBook/JonahHex'': In #10 of the original series, el Papagayo has his men transport the stolen gold across a rickety rope bridge. When they have carried the majority of of it across, he cuts the bridge down while they are on it so he will not have to share the gold.
* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': Standard operating procedure for the Dark Judges. Since there are only four of them, they are fond of recruiting the regular Judge force to assist them in their mission to wipe out all life. Of course, this only means the Judges have bought themselves a temporary reprieve...
-->'''Judge Fire:''' Slaves should not turn on their masters!
* In ''ComicBook/JupitersLegacy'', when it becomes clear that Brandon is spiralling out of his control, Walter makes plans to eliminate him.
* In ''ComicBook/LesLegendaires'', the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Shaki]] warns [[AntiVillain General Rasga]] about this concerning his alliance with [[EvilSorcerer Darkhell]]. His warning almost immediately proves correct when Darkhell indeed betrays Rasga two pages later:
-->'''General Rasga:''' Darkhell, what are you doing? We are allies!\\
'''Darkhell:''' You should have listened the warrior Shaki... I have no ally. Just tools I throw out when they are of no more use to me.
* ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'': Vladek notes that in Auschwitz he saw the Polish smugglers who ratted him and Anja out to the Nazis once more. The smugglers had eventually been deported to the death camp as well, because the Nazis had no use for them anymore. He never saw them again.
* Once [[spoiler:the Mane Six reach her castle]] in issue #4 of ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'', [[spoiler:Queen Chrysalis decides she doesn't need to keep the CMC around anymore, mainly just to spare herself any more grief from their chattering. [[ImpliedDeathThreat And no, she doesn't intend to just let them go either]]...]]
* ''ComicBook/NemesisTheWarlock'': After he's overthrown, Torquemada is rescued by a group of [[TheRemnant die-hard Terminators]]. Torquemada decides to leave Earth for good, deeming humanity as a whole to have failed him, and drives his sword through his last follower because he had no more use for him.
* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': When Strader Pharmaceuticals is having everyone that can implicate them in their illegal human experimentation killed the targets include low level employees and former employees who helped them find and target the lower class Gothamites the initial experimentation was meant to kill. These people ''knew'' they were targeting people for painful deaths, which makes it seem they shouldn't be too surprised by their own executions.
* Baked into the system for ''ComicBook/ScudTheDisposableAssassin''. Scuds are robot assassins purchased from vending machines; they're bought, pointed at a target, and when the target's dead they self-destruct. The Scud unit the series follows works out what's going to happen to him and instead incapacitates his target, leaving her on life support; the bulk of the series is the jobs he takes to pay the resulting hospital bills.
* ''ComicBook/SecretSix'': Junior offers a $20 million bounty for the ultimate get out of [[FireAndBrimstoneHell jail]] free card (as well as the heads of the people hiding it). Junior's henchmen were shocked at the amount:
-->'''Junior:''' Money is nothing. Card is only thing that matters. Plus, will kill whoever brings it to me. Substantial savings.
* In ''ComicBook/SinCity'', Manute had [[TheMole a mole]] spying on the girls of Old Town for him. Once she gave him the information he needed, he ordered her killed. The mole does die, though not at the hands of the bad guys, but at the hands of Dwight and the girls of Old Town after they rescue their leader Gail, who the mole sold out.
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': In ''Sonic Universe's'' "30 Years Later" storyline, [[KnightTemplar King Shadow]] [[spoiler:breaks Lien-Da's armband, causing her to fade into the time-line]] after she rescues him from stasis. This seems to be because she questioned [[spoiler:releasing Tikhaos]].
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Roderick Kingsley kills Jason Macendale Jr., mostly because Jason gave the name Hobgoblin a bad rep and he was coming back to show everyone how it was done.
* ''ComicBook/StarTrekUntoldVoyages'': In "Past Imperfect", Jahn kills the Starfleet officer who brought him to Starbase 11 in a shuttle after she determines that the ''Enterprise'' arrived several hours earlier. He no longer needs her as he has figured out how to work several controls and can use the autopilot for the rest.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The twisted relationship between Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress and the warlord Osika Kirske who [[YouKilledMyFather killed her parents and her Jedi Master]]. After becoming a powerful dark sider and conquering her war-torn planet, she killed most of the warlords but spared Kirske and locked him in the deepest part of her dungeons. When Obi-Wan and the ARC trooper Alpha escaped the prison, they encountered Kirske, who accompanied them and explained his relationship to Asajj. He added that the most likely reason that he was alive was that Ventress needed an archnemesis, otherwise [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou she would have no one to hate]]. Unfortunately for Kirske, Obi-Wan had messed with Ventress enough by this point that he seemed to have taken Kirske's place as most hated enemy, and when the trio encountered her she beheaded the warlord without a second thought.
* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'':
** In ''ComicBook/StarfiresRevenge'', the titular villain's henchman Derek Ames succeeds at nullifying Supergirl's powers, but his boss has him shot anyway when she fears he will expose her operation.
** It happens at the end of ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton''. After meeting Supergirl, [[spoiler:[[BodySnatcher Worldkiller-1]]]] decides that he doesn't need its old host body anymore because the Kryptonian girl would make for a better container, and destroys its host.
** In ''ComicBook/Supergirl1982'', Supergirl faces down to a clone of super-villain Parasite programmed to self-destruct after carrying out his creator's goals.
** In ''ComicBook/TheUnknownSupergirl'', Lesla-Lar plans to kill ComicBook/LexLuthor once he has helped her kill Superman.
** In ''ComicBook/TheKillersOfKrypton'', Harry Hokum manages to capture Supergirl and take tissue samples for cloning. Then he wonders what he should do with her now she is not longer useful to him, since executing such a pretty girl would be a waste...
--->'''Harry Hokum:''' Now, what do I do with you? Technically, your usefulness is over. And to simply execute you now would be a tragic waste of such a pretty frame...
** In ''ComicBook/TheHuntForReactron'', General Lane orders Reactron to work alongside Perseus Hazard's K-Squad to hunt Supergirl, Nightwing and Flamebird down, giving him secret instructions to kill Hazard and his men as soon as they have succeeded in capturing the Kryptonian trio.
** In ''ComicBook/TheGirlWithTheXRayMind'', the Phantom Zone criminals kill Lesla-Lar off when they decide they don't need her anymore.
** ''ComicBook/WayOfTheWorld'', villain Aftermath does not need Empress anymore after she has used her magic to put Supergirl under his control, so he orders Kara kill her.
** ''ComicBook/SupermanSupergirlMaelstrom'': The titular villain ruthlessly kills Hadrok after her unlucky minion steals a Boom Tube for her.
** ''ComicBook/Supergirl1984'': After Nigel has helped her trap Ethan, Selena decides she does not need him anymore and uses a quick aging spell on him.
%%** ''ComicBook/SuperboyNew52'': Harvest wants him dead for this reason.
* Franchise/{{Tintin}}'s archnemesis, Roberto Rastapopoulos, shows his worst in ''Flight 714''. Along with his enemies/victims, he had plans to kill every one of his minions (with the possible exception of Allan, his [[TheDragon dragon]]) before his master plan was through. He doesn't get to carry out said plans, though. Rastapopoulos reveals this under TruthSerum that's he's been accidentally injected with, even telling the doctor who invented the serum that he was also meant to be killed instead of being paid off. The alarmed doctor promptly does a HeelFaceTurn, aiding Tintin in his efforts.
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'':
** In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'', Ratbat decided to indulge in some EvilGloating about his plans to steal the power of [[ArtifactOfDoom The Underbase]] for himself. Unfortunately, he decided to do this right in front of Scorponok, who was co-leader of the Decepticons. Since Scorponok got the position because AsskickingEqualsAuthority while Ratbat had gotten it due to his skill with logistics, and the Decepticons were [[TheStarscream known]] for issues with disloyal members, Scorponok promptly blasted Ratbat into scrap metal.
** In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW'' ''Autocracy'' Megatron and Orion Pax join forces against Zeta Primes oppressive rule, after Zeta Prime was shot by Megatron, he soon shoots Orion Pax, stating he has served his purpose.
** In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries'', Decepticon [[ArtificialHuman Facsimiles]] are decommissioned once they’ve fulfilled their intended purpose. The Facsimiles themselves don’t seem to mind, and will go to great lengths to "self-decommission" if ordered to do so.
** Given a twist in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise''; in the backstory, Onyx Prime killed his loyal henchman, [[spoiler:Megatronus]], not just because he outlived his usefulness, but also because [[spoiler:Onyx was fulfilling a StableTimeLoop. “Onyx” is actually a time-displaced Shockwave, who manipulated history based on his own memories of how it all happened; Megatronus was recorded as dying that day, so he had to die to keep the timeline intact.]]
--->'''[[spoiler:Megatronus]]:''' Master... I did everything you asked. [[UndyingLoyalty I followed your guidance for all these eons]]... And ''this'' is my reward...?\\
'''Onyx:''' You were never more than a means to an end. And as for your reward... [[LegacyImmortality Cybertron shall remember your name]]. [[VillainousLegacy After a fashion]].
* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': Black Widow killed all the Chitauries next to the bomb, except one that looks like the smart guy. He has to deactivate it. He openly refuses. "Wrong answer, idiot!", so let's find some other solution.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'' story "... And be a Bride of Chaos" [[spoiler:Dracula]] was going to feed on Pendragon. Fortunately, he was distracted.
* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' The BigBad does this to the people who helped him with various parts of his master plan, so they won't be able to piece together what really happened. If it helps, he feels really, really sorry about having to do it. Honest. Applies to TheMovie too, though the elimination of certain story elements due to the RevisedEnding also cuts an entire ocean liner's worth of people that died for the cause in the comic.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Paula mixes in a bit of RewardedAsATraitorDeserves when she murders "Swipe" after he steals Wonder Woman's lasso for her. She's working for the Nazis only because they have her daughter captive, though her experiences have made her so nihilistic and fatalistic that she's started enjoying torturing people, whereas he happily sold out his county to the Nazis for a bit of cash.
** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Dr. Zeul, otherwise known as Giganta, tosses her assistant from the roof while trying to escape the authorities after they uploaded her mind thereby fulfilling the reason she was working with them. The assistant was rescued by ComicBook/WonderGirl (Cassie).
* ComicBook/{{Thanos}} gives one of these to Adam Warlock's friend Pip right before he kills him.
-->'''Pip:''' I thought we was pals!\\
'''Thanos:''' True, there was a time when my plans required that I be on good terms with Warlock. Which, in turn, required that I be civil with you. But now? Well, let's just say...''things have changed.''
* In ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDoomThatCameToGotham'', [[MonsterInTheIce Yib-Nogeroth]] turned Freeze into a monster so that it could provide a fragment of its essence so that Ra's al Ghul could unleash Iou-Sotha into the world. When Ra's al Ghul takes the essence, Freeze ''melts'' into a puddle.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': [[BigBad Jinnai]] declared that [[BrokenAce Asuka]] [[BattleCouple and]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Shinji]] would be useless to him after the dummy plug system was ready and he would sell her into slavery.
* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': [[BattleCouple Shinji and Asuka]] -- [[TrueCompanions together with Rei]] -- had won victory after victory against [[EldritchAbomination giant alien monsters]]. Still, when they disobeyed a direct order Commander Gendo fired them ''even though they had defeated the enemy'', stating that he had no need of pilots that disobeyed his orders now that he had the dummy plug system to control the [[HumongousMecha Evas]].
* ''Fanfic/AgesOfShadow'': After [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Brenner]] loses his duel to [[TheHero Trace]], [[FallenHero Jade]]/[[AGodAmI Yade Khan]] doesn't hesitate to step in and rip out his [[OurSoulsAreDifferent Sun Soul]], leaving Brenner comatose. While there is certainly a bit of YouHaveFailedMe at work, it's mostly this trope -- Brenner was needed to reconnect Jade with her [[ReligionOfEvil Shadow Walkers]], and to create both the Yade Khan game as a means of collecting soul energy and the technology to track down the other Sun Souls. With all that done, the presence of both the Walkers and Jade's [[DealWithTheDevil pact]] with Alonso to act on the resources and information provided by Brenner leaves Brenner himself redundant and no longer needed.
** Just before the FinalBattle, Jade disbands the Shadow Walkers, since she no longer needs servants on Earth if she's going to be free to roam it. To her credit, however, she gives them all a chance to try and waylay Trace and his friends, though really this just means reducing them to {{cannon fodder}}.
* In ''Fanfic/AnAlternateKeitaroUrashima'', Ryuichi runs headlong into this after failing to sabotage Keitaro and Miyabi's relationship. Word gets back to his boss and he loses his job, but he clings to the hope Granny Hina will help him out. When he finally gets a chance to tell her what's happened, however, she completely blows him off, letting him know she doesn't give a damn what happens to him now that he's no longer useful to her.
* In ''Fanfic/APrizeForThreeEmpires'', ComicBook/CarolDanvers warns Iva Kann sooner or later her superiors will find a better soldier and get rid of her.
-->'''Warbird:''' The Kree are very functionalistic. You're only good to them until they can get somebody better. Once they do, or they think they do, they'll see you as nothing but meat for the grinder. And somebody else will be using you as a hamburger.
* When the Changeling protagonist of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/BecomingTheMaskTrollhunters'' finds out Gunmar's plan to bring [[TheNightThatNeverEnds Eternal Night]] wasn't just a metaphor for trolls taking over the surface, he anticipates this because Changelings' immunity to sunlight is the main reason [[BigBad Gunmar]] keeps them around. This is one of the motivations for his HeelFaceTurn.
* ''[[Fanfic/BurnTheWitchMiraculousLadybug BURN THE WITCH!]]'': Despite Lila's belief that she's irreplaceable, Hawkmoth decides that he has no further use for her after [[LiarRevealed her true nature]] is exposed to all of Paris by Witch Hunter. After all, what good is a BitchInSheepsClothing whom everybody ''knows'' can't be trusted?
* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': Gendo planned [[spoiler:to get Asuka killed after getting her to carry his scheme forward]] because he would have not use for her afterwards. In chapter 5:
-->'''Gendo:''' Each Child has one use and only one. The Second will soon be useless when everything is finished.\\
'''Fuyutsuki:''' You mean... she'll be killed.\\
'''Gendo:''' You know she's the only one capable of giving birth. And that's one of the reasons she has been designated as the Second Child. Her death is only a detail. I'm sure she'll be proud of her role in humankind's evolution.
* The ''Fanfic/DeliverUsFromEvilSeries'' has this in Mortality. Culverton Smith [[ColdBloodedTorture tortures Holmes with an inch of his life]] and gloats over the guy while he's dying. This, in turn, [[BigBrotherInstinct trips off Watson's protective instincts]] and ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes really pisses him off]]''. It doesn't help Smith that Watson most likely ''[[DeadlyDoctor kills Smith with his medical skills.]]''
* ''Fanfic/{{Epiphany}}'': Once [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]] and Leslie decide [[spoiler:Corneo]] is of no further use, they feed him to his own monster.
* ''Fanfic/GuardiansWizardsAndKungFuFighters'': Post-VillainousBreakdown, Phobos starts plotting to eliminate all his minions once he succeeds in stealing the Heart of Meridian from Elyon. [[spoiler: His first act after doing so is to transform the Whisperers into new {{Mooks}} and ordering them to kill the Guards.]] Literally the ''only'' exception to this is [[MookLieutenant Roberta]], since he can tell that her [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitions]] and IFightForTheStrongestSide mentality mean that she'll stay loyal to him as the most powerful person around.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13279982/4/Harry-Potter-and-the-Burning-of-Bridges Expelled-iarmus]]'', Snape manages to convince Lucius Malfoy, who in turn convinces Cornelius Fudge, to not only get [[Literature/HarryPotter Harry and Ron]] expelled for flying the Ford Anglia to Hogwarts and breaking the [[TheMasquerade Statute of Secrecy]], but to get them arrested. When Dumbledore finds out, [[RageBreakingPoint he is furious]] and decides that Harry's presence at Hogwarts is more important than Snape's and changes the latter's memories to think that he had framed the two boys and then sics the aurors on him so that ''he'll'' be imprisoned instead of Harry and Ron.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11922615/1/Harry-Potter-and-the-Last-Chance Harry Potter and the Last Chance]]'', Harry invokes this trope as a threat to Rita Skeeter. At the Weighing of the Wands, he used his [[PeggySue future knowledge]] to blackmail her into behaving in exchange for a few choice exclusives. But in February, she took revenge by crashing his first date for an interview. He tolerated it until their food arrived, but warned her afterward:
-->'''Harry''': Next time you try to hijack one of our dates I shall become acutely disinterested in our little arrangement. As you pointed out: you are not the only reporter out there so you’d better give me a reason to keep you around.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', [[EvilTwin Satan Girl]] is worried about the possibility of [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Mordru]] obliterating her once her work is done. Hoping to avoid this scenario, she seduces him.
-->She might have to watch out for him, as well. If she were viewed as a tool, he might intend to simply use her and destroy her once the job was finished. How could she guard against that?
* ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4353865/1/Kage-no-Naruto Kage no Naruto]]'' takes this to an almost [[StupidEvil idiotic]] extreme. Naruto kills of several of his minions because they're no longer necessary. They're still very useful; just not necessary. Of course, given how his modus operandi seems to be ForTheEvulz, this is hardly surprising.
* ''Fanfic/TheLionKingAdventures'': Scar, having gone completely AxCrazy following [[spoiler:the conquest of the Pride Lands]], slaughters his hyena minions, figuring he doesn't need them anymore. This is what convinces his partner Hago to [[spoiler:[[BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork kill him in preemptive self-defense]]]].
* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'':
** At the climax of the Feoh/Ur Arc, [[TheMole the moles]] [[EvilChancellor Beasley]] and the Mortadella brothers are thrown under the bus immediately by the Black Dogs after Kyril successfully infiltrates the Arcturus estate.
** [[InvertedTrope On the flip side]], the good guys occasionally off captured {{mooks}} or thugs, who are obviously not associated with the heroes, after interrogating them for information to be used against the Black Dogs. For a couple examples, there's Hugh [[NeckSnap snapping a thug's neck]] after obtaining the whereabouts of the Gadsden Gang; Kyril [[LeftForDead leaving a man to bleed out]] [[spoiler:after [[TouchTelepathy ripping the info needed out of his head]]]]; etc.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** ''[[Fanfic/JusticeLeagueOfEquestria Mare of Steel]]'': ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} uses [[GeneralRipper Steel Wing]] in order to gather intelligence on Rainbow Dash/Supermare, but when he decides that Steel Wing's too impulsive, he tips Princess Luna off to his actions and lets him get arrested (and also wipes all memory he has of Brainiac).
** The ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' plays this interestingly in the [[BadFuture Dark World]], as Rancor[[spoiler:/Disruption]] pulls this on her ''[[WeaponOfChoice weapon]]'', the [[BladeOnAStick Concept Killing Spear]], destroying it as soon as it's fulfilled its purpose of [[spoiler:allowing her to steal Destruction's power from Discord]]. And this is {{justified|trope}}, since she's aware that the Spear could be [[HoistByHisOwnPetard used against her]], so disposes of it as soon as she doesn't need it anymore. It was also later explained that the gods had been ''wanting'' to destroy the dang thing for thousands of years.
** ''Fanfic/ThePowersOfHarmony'': Awareness of this trope and the fact that [[BigBad Cetus]] will probably enact it the moment she stops being useful is why [[TheDragon Eclipse]] begins to [[TheStarscream plot against her]].
** ''Fanfic/TheLongingverse'': [[spoiler: As soon as Bloodwing becomes an Alicorn, he steals the energy of his minion, Black. He got better... [[DrivenToMadness In a manner of speaking...]] ]]
** ''Fanfic/TheStarsAscendant'' has Luna call out Discord for being an idiot; his betrayal of Equestria was inevitable, but it was stupid of him to betray Equestria to someone who was going to pull this trope on him the moment he didn't need Discord's help anymore.
** ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'':
*** [[spoiler:[[EvilAllAlong Prince Jewelius]] convinces Queen Chrysalis to join forces with him in order to take over Equestria on Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding day. However, when he decides he has more to win by painting himself and Twilight Sparkle as the heroes who stopped the invaders, he betrays the Changelings by helping Twilight defeat and imprison them while [[ManipulativeBastard turning everypony against the other heroes]], [[TheUsurper becoming Equestria's king]]. He announces one week later that the Changelings will be harnessed as slaves, but Chrysalis (whom he [[DidYouActuallyBelieve mocks for believing]] that there was an UnholyMatrimony going on between them) will have to be "put down" for being far too dangerous.]]
*** When [[spoiler:Jewelius]] tells the [[CorruptTheCutie corrupted]] Twilight's imprisoned loved ones that he'll marry her and [[DarwinistDesire father through her a powerful line of heirs]], he offhandedly mentions that if he happens to discover an even more powerful unicorn mare, he'll likely [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident stage an accident]] for Twilight. When he reveals his true colors to her, he gloats that excluding her, nearly all his pawns have outlived their usefulness to him.
* The villains of ''Fanfic/PropheciesOfTheMorphingGrid'' dish these out as a matter of course. One particular instance is in the third story, where at what is otherwise a perfectly normal villain meeting, TheDragon, Dark Venom, [[TyrantTakesTheHelm who had been elected]] [[PresidentEvil President of the United States]] and has more than a little of TheAntichrist about him, suddenly and utterly nonchalantly executes two of the United Alliance of Evil's [[LesCollaborateurs human collaborators]], [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic paramilitary leader]] Colonel Wyman and [[CorruptCorporateExecutive robber-baron]] Sal Muldoon. Even the other villains are shocked at Venom's brutality, but he just shrugs and explains that he's already nationalized the two men's respective organizations, rendering them loose ends.
* Parodied and subverted in ''Fanfic/TealovesSteamyAdventure''. The Duchess tells Colt Skylark that he has failed her, and that the time has come to ''terminate'' him. Skylark, clearly familiar with this trope, checks to make sure he isn't standing on a trap door and looks around to see who's pointing a weapon at him. Instead, the Duchess hands him a stack of papers and explains that [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome it's his notice of termination of employment]], and now he just needs to sign the non-disclosure clause, the non-compete clause, etc etc.
* Said almost verbatim by [[spoiler: Evil!Alice]] to Arawn in the second sequel to ''Fanfic/DisneysWarACrossoverStory'', titled ''The Final Adventure'', after Arawn has let the heroes sneak into her bedroom to try to assassinate her.
--> [[spoiler: Evil!Alice]]: "While you’ve been ever so helpful to me, Arawn, so loyal, I’m afraid your usefulness has ended."
* In ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', the [[VillainTeamUp alliance]] between Lucius Malfoy and Baron Von Strucker comes to a sudden end when [[spoiler: Malfoy decides [[GeneralFailure Strucker]] is a liability and kills him (after drugging him and stealing the secrets of controlling the Winter Soldier), seizing control of HYDRA in the process.]]
* ''FanFic/ABrighterDark'': A rare ([[GreyAndGrayMorality somewhat]]) heroic example. Unlike the [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates original story]], Garon gives his permission to Corrin to kill Hans in revenge for [[spoiler: stabbing her friend, Lilith, in the back with his ax,]] stating that he no longer has need for him anymore.
* Creator/{{letmetellyouaboutmyfeels}}' ''Fanfic/MCURewrites'': In ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/11652651 Avengers: Civil War]]'', [[spoiler:Zemo kills the woman he had impersonate Wanda Maximoff to leave her body for the Avengers to find as part of his TakingYouWithMe gambit.]]
* ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'':
** [[spoiler:Danzo Shimura]], of all people, is on the receiving end of this. For several arcs, he'd been leaking out to Akatsuki intel on the jinchuriki's whereabouts, [[TheMillstone undermining Konoha's efforts to retrieve them]]. Come Chapter 90, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Obito Uchiha used Kotoamatsukami]] to implant the idea in [[spoiler:Danzo's head]], playing up on [[AmbitionIsEvil his personal ambitions]] to do the rest. [[spoiler:However, just in case, he had implanted a mental trigger to activate full mind control on Danzo, and once he fulfilled his purpose (of retrieving one of Pain's Rinnegan eyes), Obito ordered him to commit suicide via Reverse Tetragram Sealing.]]
** Much like his canon counterpart, Orochimaru doesn't think twice about disposing of minions once they're no longer useful to him or if they become a liablity. [[spoiler:This comes back to bite him ''hard'' when [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal Hebiko ends up defecting over anger at him abandoning her brother]], and her leaking intel about his whereabouts to the Allied Shinobi Forces directly leads to his death at the hands of Jiraiya and Tsunade.]]
* In ''Fanfic/ViridianTheGreenGuide'', after multiple failures, [[spoiler:culminating in the destruction of her entire hive, All For One decides that Queen Bee is no longer useful to him, and orders her killed]].

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': After Aladdin gives the Genie's lamp to a disguised Jafar, he reaches up for Jafar to help pull him out of the collapsing Cave of Wonders. Instead, Jafar grabs him by the wrist and, when Aladdin asks what he's doing, Jafar says, "Giving you your reward! Your ''eternal'' reward!" and pulls out a dagger to kill him. It backfires, though--Abu bites Jafar's arm to save Aladdin, causing both of them to fall back down into the cave instead of being stabbed. They're apparently eliminated as far as Jafar is concerned, but it turns out that Abu has swiped the lamp, leaving him with nothing.
* [[spoiler:Rourke]] does this to [[spoiler:Helga]] in ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''. Similarly to the situation in ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'', they're elevating on an aircraft, their evil scheme almost succeeded, but the aircraft is too heavily loaded to ascend. [[spoiler:Rourke throws Helga overboard, but she manages to live for another few seconds and shoots Rourke's zeppelin.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnlimitedMechsVsMutants'' sees [[spoiler: the Penguin try to invoke this on Freeze after the latter creates a serum that can turn Killer Croc, Chemo, Bane, and Clayface into monsters and they freeze over Gotham, though Freeze survives and later helps the heroes.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'' has the Joker do this to Black Mask -- who hires him to kill the Red Hood. In order to get Hood's attention, he ties up the mobsters of Gotham, both the ones that work for Hood and Black Mask himself, and set them all on fire. Luckily Batman shows up this time. Not so luckily, the Arkham workers who helped Black Mask break Joker out promptly and mysteriously die while in custody.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'': after Jordan Pryce helps the Jokerz with their thefts, the Jokerz inform him that he's become a loose end. And loose ends should be tied up...
* A non-fatal version is discussed in ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}''. When Lightning [=McQueen=] discovers that Doc Hudson was a star in the championship racing scene decades before, Doc brushes it off as a chapter in his life he wants to forget. When Lighting calls him out on quiting in his prime, Doc responds that following a devastating crash, he missed several seasons recovering, when he was ready to return, his sponsors told him to get lost, since they had hired a new racer that brought in the crowds.
** In ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'' the racers that [=McQueen=] had become accostumed to face on the racing track are all fired and replaced by newer, faster, models, and after [=McQueen's=] failed attempt at outperforming the new racers ends in a crash, he too is stripped of his endorsement deals.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'', a downplayed version occurs where Gru was originally going to leave the girls at an amusement park after [[spoiler:they unknowingly helped him steal the Shrink Ray from Vector. After enjoying the day with them, he changes his mind.]]
* [[spoiler:Prince Hans]] to [[spoiler:Anna]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}''. True, it's MurderByInaction as she's very sick and he simply chooses to leave her to die, and true he probably knew what she was asking of him would never have worked anyway... but you can see the moment that this trope occurs to him, whereupon he gives her a BreakThemByTalking treatment to speed up her decline that's very much this trope.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'': Professor Ratigan kicks his minion Fidget into the Thames because the aircraft they're flying is too heavy. While falling, Fidget screams about his inability to fly or swim. KickTheDog, indeed. [[spoiler:Though a Magazine/DisneyAdventures comic reveals Fidget survived and pulled a HeelFaceTurn]].
* Judge Frollo ordered Captain Phoebus killed in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' because Phoebus refused to burn down an innocent family's house -- with the family still inside. Doubles as YouHaveFailedMe. [[spoiler:He is saved by Esmeralda, who Frollo is doing this whole thing to try to find]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'', Zoom hires the Rogues to capture Flash. Once they do, Zoom reveals [[WhyAmITicking he planted bombs on them all]]. Only the Justice League's intervention saves them.
* Cappucino does this to Vagan in ''WesternAnimation/KillerBeanForever'' by [[spoiler:firing him]]. [[spoiler:It doesn't end well for him.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/LaBalladeDesDalton'': [[spoiler:The Daltons plan to kill Lucky Luke once they no longer need him to collect Henry Dalton's estate]]. He's also betraying them all along, but they don't know that until the end.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', Lord Business demonstrates [[MoralEventHorizon how even more evil he is]] by [[KicktheDog leaving his lieutenant Bad Cop to die in the Think Tank with the Master Builders after he's set it to self-destruct]], because now that his plan's achieving its completion, why would he need him anymore?
* DOR-15 or "Doris" pulls it on [[spoiler:the Bowler Hat Guy]] in the alternate future climax of ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons''.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'': [[spoiler: The Storm King reveals to Tempest Shadow that he only used her, and attempts to blast her away with his new powers after doing so. Justified to some degree, as [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves Tempest wasn't exactly the most trustworthy of individuals]] and he'd already had one number 2 stab him in the back who was seemingly more trustworthy than she was.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/RaggedyAnnAndAndyAMusicalAdventure'': King Koo Koo threatens to turn Raggedy Ann and Andy into robotic "idiots" like the rest of his court once they can no longer make him laugh anymore. This implies that all of the "idiots" [[WasOnceAMan used to be sentient too]], and were transformed when they couldn't make Koo Koo laugh anymore either.
* Backfires in ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' when [[spoiler:the mayor attempts to dispose of Rattlesnake Jake, but his gun is [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets empty]].]]
* Medusa tried to pull it on Snoops in the original ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRescuers Rescuers]]'' movie. It didn't work out.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie'': Spinel ''thinks'' this is the case when she sees Steven in possession of her Rejuvenator. This, combined with his [[PoorCommunicationKills poor choice of words]] when inviting her to start a new life on Earth, convinces her that he only befriended her so she can spare the planet and then use the Rejuvinator to [[LaserGuidedAmnesia reset her]].
-->'''Spinel:''' Why do you... have that?\\
'''Steven:''' [[NotWhatItLooksLike I-I was just carrying it! I didn't have anywhere else to put it!]]\\
'''Spinel:''' "We can just forget this ever happened." You mean ''I'' can just forget this ever happened! ''[[[LaughingMad laughs]]]'' Wo-o-o-o-ow! ''What a plan!'' I turn off the Injector, and then the ''moment'' my back is turned -- BAM! PRESTO! CHANGE-O! -- ''PROBLEM SOLVED!'' Well, think again! You're not getting rid of me that easy!

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/ThirtyDaysOfNight'', "[[NoNameGiven the Stranger]]" is a [[TheQuisling Quisling]] who sabotages every means of communication and transport in the town to allow the vampires to freely prey on the townsfolk, [[VampireVannabe on the condition that they turn him into one of them]] once they're done. After slaughtering most of the townsfolk (bar the protagonists), the vampires find him locked up in the local sheriff's office. Of course, they refuse to uphold their end of the bargain.
** They also do this in a more sympathetic example to a young girl. They injure her and use her as bait to draw out other people. The plan fails, and they promptly dispose of her afterwards.
* In ''Film/ThirtyMinutesOrLess'', Dwayne and Travis kidnap a pizza boy, strap a bomb to his chest, and threaten to blow him up unless he robs a bank. When he succeeds, Dwayne reveals that he never had any intention of letting him live, and attempts to detonate the bomb, but Travis stops him.
* Played in an interesting way in ''Film/AmericanUltra''. [[spoiler:Yates]] is killed in part because he denies [[spoiler:that his ''massively illegal'' operation to kill ''one'' former assassin on US territory, that has repeatedly failed and cost the CIA ''many'' good agents]] was at all, in any way, a bad idea, and that [[TooDumbToLive he intended to continue pushing for more attempts at this particular stupid idea if released]]. One of the few cases of a more or less "Good Guy" pulling this, due to the sheer incompetence, stupidity and malice displayed by the victim.
** [[spoiler: Lasseter]] manages to avoid by pointing out that [[spoiler:she]] ''hasn't'' outlived her usefulness, and is in fact [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou still needed]].
* In ''Film/AngelsAndDemons'', TheDragon is ''retired with prejudice'' after having dealt with [[spoiler:or tried to kill, in the fourth case anyway]] the four cardinals. This is especially conspicuous after it was revealed his client institution was a long-term repeat customer.
-->''You know, when they call me, and they '''all''' call me, it is so important to them that I know what they ask is the Lord's will.''
* ''Film/Annie2014'':
** A LighterAndSofter take on the trope. Guy shrugs off telling Hannigan that after the election, the "real parents" will just "dump her back in the system", but he isn't even certain that's true. Nobody actually says they're going to kill Annie, but once she leaves with her "real parents" and the truth comes out, it is treated as though she is in ''grave'' danger.
** Also Guy does this to [[spoiler:Hannigan]] by [[spoiler:hiring the fake parents himself, and cutting Hannigan out of the deal, leading to her HeelFaceTurn]].
* ''Film/TheAvengers1998''. After Sir August's WeatherControlMachine is finished he murders the scientists who helped him build it.
* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Comicbook/LexLuthor has [[TheDragon Anatoli]] kill [[spoiler: the key witness to the Nairomi incident, who Lex had threatened into lying to the Senate to frame Comicbook/{{Superman}} for a massacre in Africa]]. She's smart enough to realise what's happening after seeing Anatoli and some {{Mooks}} waiting at her house for her, and tries to avert this trope by [[spoiler: confessing to June Finch what she's done]], without success. Also, once [[spoiler: Wallace O'Keefe and the Senate sub-commitee headed by June Finch]] have [[UnwittingPawn done their job]] helping turn public opinion against the Man of Steel, Lex has them all killed in an explosion.
* At the end of ''Film/BattleRoyale'', [[TheHero Shuya]], [[LoveInterest Noriko]] and [[AloofAlly Shogo]] are the last three standing in the DeadlyGame in which ThereCanOnlyBeOne. Shogo then admits to the other two that he had been lying to their faces the entire time, that they were {{Unwitting Pawn}}s for his chance to win, that his [[TheLostLenore dead girlfriend]] didn't exist, and that he has no need for them anymore before shooting them both dead. [[spoiler:Subverted; Shuya and Noriko agreed to [[FakingTheDead fake their deaths]] as part of Shogo's plan to end the Battle Royale program.]]
* ''Film/BloodFest'': When he decides he doesn't need them anymore, [[BigBad Walsh]] kills all the gamers remote-controlling the zombies by means of grenade. Later, when the situation is reaching his climax, he [[BadBoss lets his subordinates get wiped out]] by the HatePlague being used to finish off the survivors. [[spoiler: And then he himself is killed by [[BigBadDuumvirate his partner]] Dr. Conway when the latter decides to end things and make him TheScapegoat.]]
* A rare heroic example happens in ''Film/BloodRedSky''. Nadja kills Bastian, the hijacking crew's pilot and their last surviving member, once he tells her that it's possible for Farid to make an emergency landing even with only one hand. Once she and Farid hear that, she realizes that he's no longer needed to land the plane, but drinking his blood ''will'' help Nadja recover her strength, and his corpse will also make for good bait for the other vampires, so there's no more reason to keep up the EnemyMine.
* ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Lothos to Amilyn when Buffy's ready to stake him, without a word. Lothos plays a violin, then gives Amilyn a very unsympathetic smile. Amilyn [[OhCrap only has enough time to realize the implications of that]] before Buffy stakes him... [[MilkingTheGiantCow though it takes awhile for him to actually die]]. [[spoiler:And he actually lasts longer than Lothos himself!]]
* ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}'': Shatter and Dropkick exploit the oblivious [[TheXenophile Dr. Powell]] to ingratiate themselves with the US military while passing themselves off as lawmen. Once they decide the facade is no longer necessary, Dropkick casually shoots Powell dead, right as he's realizing his mistake and trying to alert his bosses.
* In ''Film/{{Casino}}'', the Chicago bosses order ThePurge because of a combination of this and HeKnowsTooMuch.
* The [[TheFilmOfTheBook film version]] of ''Film/ClearAndPresentDanger'' has the drug cartel spy Felix Cortez [[NeckSnap snap Moira Wolfe's neck]] after getting from her the information his employer desired.[[note]]This is in contrast to the book, where she's left alive, but made unavailable due to Escobedo using the information that Cortez had collected for an attack on a US delegation visiting Colombia. After the US discovers the source of the leak and gets her cooperation in capturing him, his returning to the US would result in being arrested.[[/note]]
* ''Film/{{Circle}}'':
** Rich Man, Bearded Man, and Black Guy form an alliance to eliminate either the Little Girl or the Pregnant Woman to increase their own chances of survival, but when it comes down to a tie between the Little Girl and Rich Man, both of his allies immediately turn on him, offering to kill them both.
** The Fake Wife is convinced to join the pragmatic camp by the Bearded Man, but he later trades her life with Eric for the Little Girl.
* ''Film/{{Cliffhanger}}''
** When one of his men gets injured during the mid-air robbery, Qualen says he'll [[BondOneLiner take him to the nearest hospital]] and throws him out of the airplane.
** Averted during the mid-air robbery when their inside man Travers decides to rope across to the jet before the money, out of a gut-feeling that Qualen would leave him behind if he sent across the money first.
** Qualen orders Walker "[[DeadlyEuphemism retired]]" once he comes down with the first case of money, only for Tucker to shout a warning and Walker escape.
** When Travers threatens to turn against him, [[spoiler:Qualen shoots dead his pilot Kristel (up till then the most useful member of his team) so he'll be the only remaining pilot, and so Travers can't afford to kill him.]]
* ''Film/CloudAtlas'': Joe Napier attempts to convince Bill Smoke he'll be treated to this after he gets paid. Smoke shrugs it off as a "risk of the job".
* ''Film/ColdPursuit'': When Dexter makes one joke too many, Viking shoots him and orders Sly to [[DecapitationPresentation cut off his head and present it to White Bull]] as a peace offering.
* ''Film/TheConIsOn'': Irina is interrogating one of Harry's gambling buddies in London, attempting to ascertain her whereabouts, when she receives a phone call from Sidney informing her that Harry is in LA. On receiving this news, Irina casually throws a knife into the gambler's chest.
* ''Film/{{Constantine}}''. The BigBad [[spoiler:Gabriel]] disposes of his ally [[spoiler:Balthasar]] after he completes his mission to draw out Angela Dodson.
* ''Film/Cube2Hypercube'': Kate was really a government agent all along sent inside the Hypercube to retrieve Alex Trusk's memory disk, but when she gets back to the real world, she's killed by her superior the moment she has completed her mission.
* ''Film/{{Cypher}}'': People keep warning the protagonist that his current employer will do this to him. Then when he decides to betray that employer and work with the one who warned him about it, someone else warns him that his new employers will do the same. [[spoiler:Doesn't actually happen to him, but it does happen with Finster and Callaway and their {{Mooks}} who, after being used to help retrieve the MacGuffin, are blown up by Rooks as he makes his escape.]]
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'':
** In ''Film/BatmanBegins'', Scarecrow does this to [[spoiler:Carmine Falcone]] not only because he isn't useful anymore, but also because HeKnowsTooMuch and threatens to blackmail Scarecrow with it.
** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'':
*** ComicBook/TheJoker does this to the entire mob, who hire him to take out Batman only to wish they hadn't as Joker's machinations ruin and eventually kill them -- the only one who doesn't get killed by Joker is Maroni, who gets Two-Face set on him instead.
*** In the opening bank robbery, nonetheless, the Joker walks away with the entire $68 million haul for himself, tricking his clowns into shooting other, and only needing to kill ''one'' person (the bus driver). This seemingly relies on a degree of stupidity and/or [[GenreBlind Genre Blindness]] from the clowns: all but the one told to deal with the silent alarm (who dies first) has secret orders to kill someone once he's done his part...and don't realize the same will happen to them. One guy ''does'' catch on when he learns another clown (the one he was ordered to kill) was told to do this to the alarm guy (right before shooting him himself for finishing his task of opening the vault), but is wrong in who kills him.
** In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Bane does this to Daggett. Earlier, he does this on the two men who capture Gordon and deliver him to Bane. Bane breaks the first guy's neck, then tells the second one he'll kill him as soon as he searches Gordon's pockets. [[UndyingLoyalty The henchman follows orders up to the end]]. After Gordon escapes, Bane shoots the henchman and drops his body in the storm drain outflow.
* As soon as [[EvilBrit Francis]] reveals to {{Film/Deadpool|2016}} that he can't fix Wade's face, his minutes are numbered.
* Near the end of ''Film/DemolitionMan'', the main villain Simon Phoenix tries to unfreeze all the criminals held in the cry-prison at once to kickstart his new dystopia. He thanks the prison's cryo-stasis technicians for their help, before gunning them all down because he no longer has any use for them.
* ''Franchise/DieHard'':
** ''Film/DieHard'': Hans Gruber's willingness to blow up the Nakatomi building's roof when Karl was up there chasing [=McClane=] might have been an earlier example of this trope, as the original film's [[TheDragon Dragon]] had become so obsessed with avenging his brother that he was becoming an unmanagable liability to Gruber's plans.
** The villains of ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'' are quite fond of this trope. They execute everyone they have contact with once they're through with them. This actually works to their detriment because John [=McClane=] is sent to pick up one of their targets early in the film and manages to rescue him, screwing up their plan in the long run.
* Subverted in the only clever moment in the ''Film/DungeonsAndDragons2000'' film. Damodar begs Profion to take out the parasite in his head as promised, and the spell Profion casts knocks him away and to the floor, apparently killing him. However, Damodar then gets right back up as the parasite leaves.
** Though in the [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci Fi Channel]] sequel it turned out he was cursed and became undead.
* Inverted in ''Film/EndOfDays''. Satan resurrects several of his minions after Jericho kills them because they still might prove useful to him.
* In ''Film/TheEnforcer'', when the girlfriend of one of the terrorists is gravely wounded by a police officer during a robbery, he asks Bobby to help him carry her back to the van. Bobby tells him she's dead and taking her with them would slow them down. Her boyrfiend says she isn't dead. Bobby reiterates his opinion she's dead by emptying his revolver into her.
* In ''Film/AFairlyOddMovieGrowUpTimmyTurner'', Hugh J. Magnate does this to Mr. Crocker.
* ''Film/AFairlyOddSummer'': Foop intends to kill Crocker after the Abra-Cadabrium is destroyed.
* In ''Film/Firestorm1998'', Randall Alexander Shaye systematically kills each of the convicts who helped him escape once they's stopped being useful/become a liability.
* ''Film/TheFunhouseMassacre'': Manual "Mental Manny" Dyer has the park overseer killed after revealing to him he'd been building the front for the [[SerialKiller Serial Killers]]' front to gain a slew of new victims.
* A nonfatal example in ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'', Cobra Commander leaves Destro to rot in prison (where he was more than likely blown up), telling him he's "out of the band". [[WhatCouldHaveBeen An earlier script draft]] had Cobra Commander shoot him after delivering the line.
* In ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'', Jimmy murders all of his cohorts in the Lufthansa heist (except [[TrueCompanions Henry and Tommy]]) so he won't have to split the loot with them or risk them constantly blabbing about it.
* ''Film/GrossePointeBlank'' has a rather touching subversion. Martin Blank has, throughout the film, been set up as a ruthless and highly efficient hitman. Towards the end of the film, when he realizes he has to go on the run and possibly abandon his career, he orders his assistant/secretary Marcella to cover their traces, and then tells her to look under her desk. She immediately freezes up, expecting this trope to be in force, and looks under the desk. There is a package duct taped there... but it turns out to be a huge bundle of cash.
* ''Film/TheHangoverPartIII'':
** [[spoiler: Chow does this to the Wolfpack after they help him steal the gold from the Mexican villa. He then proceeds to reactivate the alarm and snaps the necks of the guard dogs before leaving them to their fate.]]
** [[spoiler: Marshall does this to Black Doug after he frees the Wolfpack from the Mexican authorities. He claims that his head of security isn't doing his job if the three guys break into his villa and steal the gold.]]
* In ''Film/Hellboy2019'', [[spoiler:Nimue does this to Gruagach during the final battle by shrinking him down to size until he pops like a zit]].
* ''Film/Hercules2014'': Spoken word for word by Cotys, but ultimately averted. Despite Hercules and his comrades confronting him about the truth behind the civil war, Cotys still elects to pay them for their services and send them on their way rather than kill them (at first). He later views his own daughter this way, and orders her killed, but Hercules stops it.
* ''Film/HighlanderIIITheSorcerer'': When Kane and his two companions are released from their entombment, he almost immediately kills one to weed out his remaining opposition.
* ''Film/JamesBond'' villains are fond of this trope.
** Stated by Red Grant to Bond on the train scene in ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove''. The only reason SPECTRE kept Bond alive up to that point was for him to get the Lektor, and with it within their grasp, Bond and Tatiana are now expendable. Unfortunately for SPECTRE, things don't go as planned.
** Auric Film/{{Goldfinger}} thanks his various criminal counterparts for helping him smuggle in all the necessary bits and pieces for his nefarious scheme, then [[BoardToDeath proceeds to kill them all]]. Well, all except the one who wanted out. He kills him, too, but [[ThrownFromTheZeppelin that's a different trope]].
** In ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'', Angelo Palazzi, the impersonator, demanded a raise immediately before his mission of stealing the nuclear warhead. He smugly points out that with so much time and effort already spent on the plot, there's no way SPECTRE would walk away from it now, certainly not over a pay dispute. His boss, Emilio Largo, was not pleased and kills him right after he delivers the goods. Whether or not this was always the plan, or only done because he demanded more money is unclear.
*** In the book and in ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain'', the impersonator is [[LoveInterest Domino's]] brother, and is killed because he was a direct link to the BigBad (his sister being the BigBad's mistress) and the chance he might start blabbing to someone.
** ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''. After Blofeld gets enough diamonds to create his [[EnergyWeapon Laser]] KillSat, he sends his assassins Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd to execute the members of his diamond smuggling ring.
** ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. After Dr. Bechmann and Professor Markovitz completed the submarine tracking system for Stromberg, he called them in, congratulated them, and told them he was transferring $20 million to their Swiss bank accounts. After he sent them off in a helicopter, he blew it up by remote control and sent a message cancelling the money transfer.
** ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'': Blofeld fatally electrocutes the helicopter pilot who delivered Bond into his trap. Blofeld tells Bond, "Don't concern yourself with the pilot... one of my less useful people."
** ''Film/AViewToAKill'': After his workers finish setting up a plan, Max Zorin not only detonates the explosives early while people are still in the caves, but then proceeds to take out an assault rifle and gun down all the survivors. While ''[[PutTheLaughterInSlaughter laughing the entire time.]]''
** However, ''Film/LicenceToKill'' averted it: When TheDragon asks why they don't just kill the corrupt cop they bribed, the BigBad insists that loyalty is important to him, and pays up the bribe as promised. The guy ''does'' die, but [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves at Bond's hands]].
*** But later in the film, when being chided by a lackey about the cost of losing two tanker trucks full of heroin dissolved in gasoline to Bond's actions, he declares that "...it's time to start cutting overhead", and [[OffingTheMouth guns down the lackey with an Uzi]]. However he's clearly undergoing a VillainousBreakdown by this stage.
** ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'': During the standoff on Carver's ship, Film/JamesBond is holding BigBad Elliot Carver's tech genius, Gupta, hostage at gunpoint in order to get him to release Wai Lin, who Carver himself has taken hostage. After Gupta confirms that Carver's stolen missiles are ready to fire on Beijing, Carver promptly kills him, declaring, "Then it seems you have outlived your contract."
** In ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'', [=LeChiffre=] himself is killed by his superior Mr. White for not being reliable enough.
--->'''Mr. White:''' Money isn't as valuable to our organization as knowing who to trust.
* Quentin Turnbull does this to Adleman Lusk in ''Film/JonahHex''. Lusk says that he will hang if Turnbull's scheme fails and Turnbull promises him that he will not hang.
* ''Film/JurassicPark3'': The raptors try to lure the party into an ambush by wounding Udesky and leaving him in a clearing. When the others stay up in the trees instead of taking the bait, the raptors give up and start running off... but not before one of them casually reaches down and [[NeckSnap snaps Udesky's neck with it's jaws]].
* ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'': Wheatley and his mercenaries work with Claire, Owen, and their team to capture the raptor Blue. Once they have Blue, they shoot Owen with a tranquilizer dart and leave his body in the path of an approaching lava flow, and lock Claire and Franklin in a building threatened by lava. They were about to dispose of Zia, [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou but she points out she's the only one among them who can treat Blue's injuries]]. Fortunately for the others, Owen wakes up in time to evade the lava, and Claire and Franklin manage to escape the building.
* In ''Film/TheLastStarfighter'' "Emperor" Xur is discarded by his allies in the Ko'dan armada the second he's no longer useful to them. It's telegraphed to the audience well in advance and it's only his own arrogance that keeps him from seeing it coming; the flagship officers are openly asking their commander how much longer they have to put up with his bizarre personality and delusion that he's in charge ''while he's in the room''.
* ''Film/{{Logan}}'': In Gabriela's videotape, it is revealed that the Mexican women who were kidnapped and [[MedicalRapeAndImpregnate impregnated]] by [[EvilInc Transigen]] were murdered after they gave birth to the mutant children.
-->'''Gabriela:''' They were [[ChildByRape raised in the bellies of Mexican girls]]. Girls no one can find anymore.
* Played with in the ending to ''Film/LordOfWar''. VillainProtagonist Yuri goes free when he should be heading to jail due to his [[ArmsDealer illegal gunrunning]] because of [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections his connections with US government]], revealing for the first time in the film that at least some of his gunrunning is actually him acting as a middleman for the government, which allows them to supply [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters various unsavory forces]] around the world while maintaining PlausibleDeniability. However, Yuri grimly notes that while he hasn't outlived his usefulness ''yet'', that day might well be coming, and when it does there'll be nothing he can do about it.
-->'''Yuri:''' ''[narrating]'' I'm not a fool. I knew that just because they needed me that day didn't mean that they wouldn't make me a scapegoat the next.
* In the first scene of ''Film/{{Machete}}'', Machete attempts to rescue an apparent kidnap victim. When he finds her, she's totally naked and flirts with him, then stabs him when he lets his guard down, as she's actually working for the BigBad Torrez. Torrez tells her she did excellent, then has his sidekick shoot her in the head.
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:''
** In ''Film/IronMan1'', [[spoiler:Obadiah Stane]] has Raza and his men killed after getting Tony's first armor suit and its plans.
--->'''Raza:''' I hope you'll repay me with the gift of iron soldiers.
--->(''[[spoiler:Stane]] paralyzes Raza'')
--->[[spoiler:'''Stane:''']] (''in Urdu'') This is the only gift you shall receive.
*** He later almost kills [[spoiler:Pepper Potts]] after getting the Iron Monger suit, realizing that the person in question has betrayed him.
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger:''
*** Subverted as a minor PetTheDog moment for the villain. When Dr. Zola notices that there's only enough room in the escape craft for one, it seems as though Red Skull is leaving him to die in the self-destructing base. But nope, Red Skull hands him the keys to his personal CoolCar and tells him not to scratch the paint job. Oh, but surely there's a bomb in the car. Right? Again, nope; Zola just starts the car and drives off to safety. As Red Skull's top scientist, Zola is a bit harder to replace than {{Mooks}} or even EliteMooks and this way, Zola will be able to deliver the Skull's favorite car to him while he's at it.
*** It's also invoked by Col. Phillips to Dr. Zola [[spoiler:after he's been captured by the SSR.]]
** In ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' The Vulture takes care of the first Shocker of his crew this way, after firing the man because his aloof and careless behavior has become a liability and Shocker attempts to blow the crew's cover as payback. Granted, Vulture only attempted to hit him with the Antigravity Gun but accidentally grabbed a Disintegration Ray...
** ''Film/BlackPanther2018'': Killmonger has many allies in his plan to overthrow Wakanda, but no qualms in killing any of them if they get in the way of those plans. [[spoiler: The entire plan revolved around eventually killing Ulysses Klaue, as Wakanda is a [[HiddenElfVillage notoriously secretive nation]], and bringing in the corpse of their most prominent enemy is the only way Killmonger could gain access. Once Klaue takes Killmonger's girlfriend Linda hostage, he kills her too]].
* In ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie'', Ivan Ooze commands the brainwashed citizens of Angel Grove to return to the construction site he was freed from and leap off the tall cliff there after construction of his Ecto-Morphicon Titans is done. It's implied he did this to the last group of people to do the same when the machines were built. It's subverted, though, since the kids of Angel Grove are able to hold them back long enough for the Rangers to defeat Ooze and break the trance.
* Various examples in ''Film/{{Momentum|2015}}''. All involve the anti-heroine Alex in some way.
** Nicely subverted by TheDragon who understands it's a good idea to keep as many underlings alive as possible when dealing with someone as dangerous and resourceful as Alex. Even when she takes a hitman as a HumanShield, he refuses to ShootTheHostage.
** Alex herself eliminates her dangerously psychotic crew member Wayne during the opening bank heist. Justified since he would have killed her otherwise.
** Inverted by Alex. She's smart enough to keep a valuable data drive hidden as a bargaining chip, knowing the bad guys will be reluctant to kill her until it's recovered.
* In the movie ''Film/MysteryMen'', Casanova Frankenstein kills his own men for no other reason than to show that [[VillainBall he is so evil]].
** That and he wasn't willing to wait for them to get out of the way before activating the booby trap that would prevent the advancing heroes from reaching him.
* In ''Film/TheMysteryOfTheHoodedHorsemen'', the ManBehindTheMan Riders guns down Norton once the Riders' power has been broken and he has no further use for him.
* From ''Film/TheOmen1976'', Damien (aka TheAntichrist) is given to the Thorn family in order to secure financial and political power and will dispose of them once it is certain that he will inherit their wealth.
* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'', Lord Beckett orders the execution of [[spoiler:Elizabeth's father]] because he hasn't got any use for him anymore now that he gained full authority and [[spoiler:the ex-governor]] got too curious about the MacGuffin.
* In ''Film/PitchBlack'', Johns constantly warns the others that if they give Riddick the opportunity to betray them and escape the planet by himself, he'll leave them all behind to die. They delay bringing all the power cells to the skiff until the last minute, but they held off too long and the aliens wake up. [[spoiler:He's proven right, since as soon as Riddick gets the chance, he steals the cells and traps the other survivors in a cave, planning to take off alone. Carolyn's willingness to sacrifice herself for the other two motivates him to go back and rescue them.]]
* ''{{Film/Replicas}}'': Jones kills Ed, after he gets him to confess that he stole the cloning technology from Bionyne.
* In ''Film/RingOfFear'', Twitchy develops a guilty conscience and decides to go to Beatty and confess about the sabotage. However, he decides to tell O'Malley first and give him the opportunity to come clean as well. On hearing Twitchy's plans, O'Malley drowns him in the animal trough.
* In ''Film/RoboCop1987'', when Murphy and Lewis are chasing Clarence Boddicker and his gang, Boddicker sacrifices one of his henchmen because the henchman is injured and has just bumbled their robbery by inadvertently burning the money. Boddicker throws him from through the cop car's windshield from the villains getaway vehicle while uttering the immortal line, "Can you fly, Bobby?"
* In ''Film/{{Scream 4}}'', the killer's accomplice thought that he was a part of a plan to stage a killing spree, frame somebody else for the murders, and pose as the survivors who took down Ghostface, becoming celebrities in the process. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for Charlie, Jill Roberts was planning on being the FinalGirl -- with emphasis on ''Final''. She then stabs Charlie in the heart and tries to make ''him'' look like the mastermind of the murders.]]
* ''Film/ScreamAndScreamAgain'': After Keith's crimes attract the attention of the authorities, Kornatz decides to shut down Dr. Browning's research by killing Dr. Browning and all of his staff.
* ''Film/Seven1979'': When the Kahuna's faithful driver Charlie is wounded during their getaway, the Kahuna shoots him and shoves him off the side of the boat.
* In ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'', Lord Blackwood has [[spoiler:[[EvilGenius Luke Reardon]] killed and placed in Blackwood's coffin after the ginger midget created the various ways to implement magic tricks that Blackwood uses]].
* In ''Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows'', Professor Moriarty makes it a habit of killing employees who are no longer useful so they can't be traced back to him.
** In the film's ActionPrologue, Moriarty attempts to have Doctor Hoffmanstahl blown up with a bomb. When Holmes foils that attempt, Moriarty's henchman Sebastian Moran shoots Hoffmanstahl with a poisoned dart.
** [[spoiler:Irene Adler]] is poisoned after it becomes obvious to Moriarty that she's succumbed to her feelings for Holmes.
** Moriarty, under a false name, buys a large amount of shares in the munitions company headed by Alfred Meinhard. Moran kills Meinhard while the building he's in is in the middle of a bombing, with the pretense that nobody's going to look any further for a cause of death other than the bombing.
* ''Film/Shotgun1955'': Bentley decides that killing USMarshal Mark Fletcher was a mistake and has made things too hot for them, especially now that Deputy Marshal Clay Hardin is dogging their trail. He tells Ben Thompson that he is quitting their gunrunning scheme and heading out to California. Thompson politely lets him go, but then sends Delgadito and the renegades to kill him after her has left.
-->'''Ben Thompson:''' When you know you're goin' to have to kill a man, Perez, it costs nothing to be polite.
* The 1995 Venezuelan film ''Film/Sicario1995'' has a group of Columbian street kids being trained for an assassination by a cartel boss. The protagonist is chosen as the best shooter and taken away by the cartel boss in his limousine, whereupon cartel soldiers gun down the others. The protagonist doesn't see this, but is smart enough to know his mentor has been ordered to kill him after he's committed the murder. He tries to talk him out of it, but has to shoot his mentor anyway.
* Non-fatal example in ''Film/SpyKids1'': After Alexander Minion gets the third brain, and reveals himself to be the film's real BigBad, he has Floop (the guy who thought ''he'' was controlling everything) [[AndIMustScream locked up in a virtual prison]].
* In ''Film/StahlnetzPSI'', two brothers kidnap a little girl for ransom. Then, once they record her voice to prove she is alive, one brother, Larry, reveals that he intends to kill the girl, as [[HeKnowsTooMuch she had seen them]]. And when the other brother objects, Larry [[MoralEventHorizon beats him up and locks him together with the girl to die]].
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** Surprisingly, BigBad Darth Sidious / Emperor Palpatine only does this twice, and both in ''Revenge of the Sith.'' Count Dooku doesn't realize how expendable he is until Sidious orders his replacement, the future Darth Vader, to execute him. Then, once the Separatist leaders have done their job, Sidious informs them that he is sending Vader to "take care of them." Naturally, this means Vader locks the door and slaughters them. Vader's sweetheart Padmé probably would've also been discarded by Sidious, if Vader hadn't accidentally done that himself.
** He does it a third...or is that first?...time in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', when he urges Luke to finish off Vader and take his place at the Emperor's side.
** Actually he does it to ''everyone'' in ''Revenge of the Sith'': He sends Obi-Wan to kill Grievous, and would have killed Grievous if he had won; slaughters the Jedi once their role in the war and attacking him has been fulfilled; and finally to the Republic itself, dissolving it creating THE FIRST! GALACTIC! EMPIRE!.
** He also does this to the Galactic Senate in ''Film/ANewHope'', dissolving them the moment that the Death Star is fully operational and he no longer needs to pretend he needs them.
** It sounds strange, but it's part of the Sith doctrine: kill the other if you can form a stronger duo without him. A Sith apprentice is fully aware that their master may replace them someday… Reciprocally, as a master, if your apprentice doesn't plan to kill you, you are not doing your master's job.
** Sidious did this to his master, Darth Plagueis, after his election to the chancellorship was secured. The ExpandedUniverse establishes that this was done with force lightning and a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.
** He also likely would have arranged to have Darth Maul disposed of at some point during the Clone War, had he not been defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi's hands earlier.
** In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', Han brings this up while trying to convince Kylo Ren to rejoin the good guys; he fully expects Supreme Leader Snoke will kill Ren the moment he's fulfilled his purpose. [[spoiler: We'll never know whether Han was right or not, [[TheStarscream as Kylo kills]] ''[[DiscOneFinalBoss Snoke]]'' [[KlingonPromotion to seize power]] in the next movie.]]
* In ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' we get a rare example of a (supposed) good guy going this when Amanda Waller murders an entire room full of ''her own personnel'' on the pretense that they were no longer useful and did not have sufficiently high security clearance to retain the information they had obtained.
* In ''Film/SupermanII'', Lex Luthor aids the Kryptonian supervillains by giving them information on Superman and is rewarded twice with the threat of death.
** First he leads them to Perry White's office and Lois Lane, with the expectation that where she is, Superman will soon show up (and he does). Zod then says "Kill the rest. Starting with him (Luthor)". After the fight with Superman is over, Luthor gives Zod "Superman's address" (the Fortress of Solitude, which Luthor discovered earlier).
** After Superman surrenders to Zod to save Lois' life, Zod says "We have no more use for this one. Kill him. (Luthor)" However, this is a ploy to let Luthor gain useful information from Superman (Non is about to kill Luthor as Zod commanded but stops at a quiet word from Zod).
* Attempted in ''Film/TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny'', where after protagonists manage to steal the titular Pick of Destiny from the Rock and Roll Museum the mysterious stranger that tipped them off towards it tries to kill them for it. However, since he's a paraplegic with a tiny knife our heroes simply run off and leave him for the cops.
* In ''Film/TheThieves'', Wei Hong shoots [[spoiler:the Korean detective]] in the head once he has disposed of the Hong Kong police inspector.
* ''Film/ThirteenWomen'': Once the last horoscope has been sent, Ursula has no further use for the swami and coerces him into throwing himself in front of a subway train
* In ''Film/TimeBandits'', Kevin demands that Evil call off his skull-headed monsters or he'll destroy the map. Evil replies, "Very well. I have no more need of them," and destroys all the monsters, then goes a step further and kills ''all'' his remaining minions.
* A non-fatal version is used in ''Film/TradingPlaces''. Millionaire brothers, Mortimer and Randolph Duke, owners of a prestigious trading company make a bet centering around the NatureVersusNurture debate, and bring in Billy Ray Valentine, a black two bit hustler, and train him to be a stock broker, while they ruin the life of Louis Winthrope [=III=], one of their best traders, by framing him for robbery, drug-dealing, and embezzlement, alienating his fiancee, freezing his accounts, and kicking him out of his mansion. After Winthrope unsuccessfully tries tries to frame Valentine and flees into the night after crashing the Christmas party, the Duke brothers settle their [[spoiler: one dollar]] bet in a bathroom, and discuss how they will switch back Valentine and Winthorpe's lives. They instead agree that they don't Winthorpe working for them anymore, and when the topic of Valentine comes up, they also agree that they don't want him [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain (using a racial slur in their description)]] in their company, and they'll keep him on until soon after New Year's day when they plan on making a fortune [[WhiteCollarCrime through insider trading]]. This would come back to bite them, [[BathroomStallOfOverheardInsults since Valentine was in a stall and heard everything.]]
* Happens in ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon''. [[spoiler:Megatron orders Soundwave and Laserbeak to kill their human workers who have served their purpose (I.E. Keeping the ''Ark's'' existence on the moon a secret). One notable example is when Laserbeak murders one worker's family, ''including his daughter who may not have even known her dad was working for the Decepticons.'']]
-->'''Megatron:''' The [[spoiler:human collaborators]] have served their purpose, Soundwave. It's time to eliminate loose ends.\\
'''Soundwave:''' [[spoiler:(''As newspaper clippings of dead NASA employees from the past decades appear onscreen.'')]] Laserbeak, [[LeaveNoSurvivors Kill them all.]]
* After ambushing the armoured car at the start of ''Film/{{Transit}}'', Marek shoots the driver. When the driver's partner, who is the InsideMan on the ArmedBlag, objects, Marek calmly kills him as well.
-->'''Man:''' Nobody's supposed to die! You said that nobody's supposed to die.\\
'''Marek:''' ILied.\\
''[shoots him]''
* In ''Film/TheTransporter'', the three bank robbers at the beginning of the film are quietly reminded by protagonist Frank Martin that the conditions to using his car as a getaway car is that there is to be 3 people in the car at one time....they failed to realize he meant the driver as well. So, one of the bank robbers shoots another in the head and tosses him out the door. [[spoiler:They get caught anyway, but only some time ''after'' Martin has successfully evaded the police and delivered them to their drop-off point.]]
* In ''Film/Trespass2011'', Kyle refuses to cooperate, because he is afraid the robbers will kill them once he does.
* Clu does this to [[spoiler:Castor and Gem]] in ''Film/TRONLegacy''.
* In ''Film/UnderSiege2DarkTerritory'', the BigBad interrogates two lovers by threatening to [[EyeScream shove a red-hot needle into the woman's eye]]. After they panic and tell him the codes he wants, he thanks them and emotionlessly has them thrown out the train to their deaths.
* In ''Film/WeekendAtBernies'', the [[TheMafia mob boss]] Bernie contacted to kill Richard and Larry for stumbling upon his insurance fraud scheme has the hitman kill Bernie instead, becuase Bernie's greed had led him to get sloppy, putting his organization at risk. Oh, and [[spoiler: Bernie was having an affair with the mob boss's girlfriend]].
* ''Film/TheWildGeese'': the mercenaries recruited by Matheson to rescue Limbani become redundant once Matheson concludes his mining contract. Rather than recall the mercenaries -- who would need to be paid! -- Matheson recalls their escape plane, leaving them stranded in hostile territory.
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
** Downplayed. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', ComicBook/{{Magneto}} [[spoiler:leaves Mystique behind when [[BroughtDownToNormal her mutation is removed]]]] and genuinely feels bad about it. She repays him in kind by working against him.
*** It makes a bit more sense [[spoiler:when you consider the original ending of the movie. When Magneto is at the park bench at the end, Mystique was supposed to be sitting next to him, implying that Magneto's rejection of her and her subsequent betrayal were both actually staged to lower the defenses of Alcatraz Island later.]]
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', after Bob Hendry [[spoiler:helps place missiles in Turkey, Shaw no longer needs him. He takes the energy from an exploded grenade and sinks it all into Hendry.]]
* In ''Film/XXx'', the villains test out a deadly nerve gas on [[spoiler:the scientists who developed it for them]].

[[folder:Pinballs]]
* Quoted in Creator/{{Capcom}}'s unreleased ''Pinball/{{Kingpin}},'' when mobster Pat O'Bunion tries to kill you.
-->"We have no more need of yer services."

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* While the Executive from ''Podcast/FalloutIsDragons'' has yet to do this onscreen, he's never been seen with the same partner twice....

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* The Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance pulled this on Wrestling/{{SMW}} in one of the few cases of the NWA going to another promotion for help and then cutting their legs off. Traditionally, a member of the NWA got big (Wrestling/{{A|merican Wrestling Association}}WA, Wrestling/{{WWE}}, Wrestling/{{WCW}}, Wrestling/{{ECW}}, Wrestling/ImpactWrestling, [[Wrestling/ProWrestlingZero1 Zero 1]]) and then declared the NWA no longer useful.[[note]]Though Zero 1 came back when NWA was useful again[[/note]]
* After [[Wrestling/MickFoley Dude Love]] failed to defeat Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin for the WWF Championship, he tried to apologize to Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. The later responds with a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Speech]], stating that for all of his hatred for Austin, at least he makes him richer while Dude makes him sick, before ultimately firing him.
* Between Wrestling/KurtAngle and Wrestling/TheWorldsGreatestTagTeam the feeling was mutual. Haas and Benjamin were just more violent about it was all.
* At the first show of Wrestling/RingOfHonor's ''Fifth Year Festival'', Wrestling/AustinAries and Wrestling/RoderickStrong challenged Generation Next stablemate [[Wrestling/EvanBourne Matt Sydal]] and his newer partner Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels for the World Tag Team Titles and were unsuccessful when Aries suffered a knee injury. So Strong beat up Aries and announced he was forming a new TagTeam with Davey Richards called No Remorse Corps.
* While Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli had kicked Wrestling/SaraDelRey out of [[Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} DieBruderschaftDesKreuzes]] for embarrassing him[[note]]by defeating him in their match in 12 Large: Summit round robin tournament to crown the inaugural [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/pa/e/chikara/chikara-g.html CHIKARA Grand Champion]][[/note]], he seemed to do away with Wrestling/DaizeeHaze just because she was Del Rey's tag team partner and a little upset about the send off. This was Sara's HeelFaceTurn match, Claudio's last CHIKARA appearance (he was headed to Wrestling/{{WWE}}'s developmental promotion Florida Championship Wrestling to become Antonio Cesaro), and Daizee's last CHIKARA appearance as a regular roster member, since she was en route to calling it a career due to losing a battle with anorexia.
* Wrestling/{{Carlito|Colon}} laid out Eddie Colon at WWC Aniversario 2009 after he believed La Artilleria Pesada were down and out, meaning Eddie was no longer needed. Turns out Thunder and Lighting still had plenty of fight left in them and now Eddie couldn't help Carlito even if he wanted to.
* Jessicka Havok left Rain's Army after Rain made peace with Wrestling/MercedesMartinez following her failure to win the Wrestling/{{WSU}} Title.
* Steve Corino and Wrestling/JimmyJacobs ousted Wrestling/KevinSteen after he lost the Wrestling/RingOfHonor World Title and instated Wrestling/MattHardy as the new leader of S.C.U.M.
* In 2013, Los Bizarros picked up Cuervo, Espiritu and Ozz, former members of Cibernético's [[{{cult}} Secta]], to help them defeat Los Perros Del Ma. Once they finally did though, those same former Secta members, along with Bizarros member Escoria, violently turned on Cibernético. In the end the remaning Bizarros had to take on Perro Aguayo Jr and the first person to usurp Cibernético's position in La Secta, El Mesías, as members for help.
* After Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra convinced Taynara Conti to attack Wrestling/NikkiCross, they abandon her and back out of whatever deal they struck with her, having succeeded in their plans to further screw with Nikki's stable Wrestling/{{SAnitY}}.

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* In the ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' episode "Green Card", when B.P. Richfield fires his tree pushers after all the trees have been pushed down, he gives this as the reason they are fired.
* ''Series/TheMrPotatoHeadShow'': A third network executive appears in the finale, who says Mr. Potato Head's show has outlived its usefulness to "ThePlan", and tells Aaron and Nora to cancel it.
* The reason most of the main animals in ''Film/TheMuppetMusiciansOfBremen'' leave their owners.
-->'''Lardpork:''' ''[to TR, the rooster]'' You're no good around the barn anymore, but you might just make a tasty meal.

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* Game 7 of ''Roleplay/ComicFuryWerewolf''. The two Wolves decided to backstab the Framer mere days away from victory. It turned out later that they'd just forgotten that he was on their side, but the Trope was used in the Death Scene anyway.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''Anime/CardfightVanguard'' has multiple clans that use this as part of their play style, to tie back to the card lore. The Tachikaze, Shadow Paladin, Great Nature and Gold Paladin clans all use the trope as a mechanic, but each clan does it at a different point in your turn, and in Tachikaze's case you can ''revive'' the units [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill just to kill them again.]]
* Antiheroic example in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', with the Solar Exalt Arianna summoning a demon to lead her to a copy of the [[TomeOfEldritchLore Broken-Winged Crane]], then destroying it and turning on the demon:
-->'''Demon:''' You... you used me!\\
'''Arianna:''' Indeed. And now your usefulness has ended!
* This is one way to use [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=197869 Abyssal Persecutor]] in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''. Bring him out super early, use him to beat your opponent senseless until his effect is the only thing keeping them alive, then kill Abyssal Persecutor yourself and win.
* Can happen in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' due to the nature of the players' work (performing dirty, deniable jobs for mega-corp agents known collectively as 'Mr. Johnson'). Most Johnsons refrain from tying up loose ends by killing the runners they hire because it's bad for future business to get a reputation for not being true to the deal. Mr. Js with hot heads, personal dirty laundry involved or just ignorant of the code of conduct in the shadows still sometimes try it. The Runner's Handbook splatbook notes that while a Johnson may screw himself out of future deals by wasting a couple runners, it's not really much of a comfort to the poor sods he killed now is it?
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** Genestealer Cults as well infiltrate Imperial worlds ahead of Tyranid splinter fleets, assist them in taking over the planet however way they can... and then end up as Tyranid chow once they've done their job. "true" cultists are already linked to the hive mind by then, but those they roped along typically have no idea that this is going to happen, and are very unpleasantly surprised when what they thought were angelic saviors come to to their aid start slaughtering them.
** The Emperor had the Thunder Warriors purged after they helped him take over Earth. The justification for this was that the Thunder Warriors were psychologically and physically unstable due to their flawed BioAugmentation (which was caused by the extreme time crunch he was operating on). Keeping them around was just too dangerous to the rest of humanity.
** The Horus Heresy was kicked off when Horus came to the erroneous conclusion (inspired by the words of his already corrupted brother Lorgar and a misleading vision of the future) that the Emperor was planning to do the same thing to the Primarchs and the Space Marines once the Great Crusade was complete. It certainly didn't help that Horus was already feeling uncertain about what purpose the Primarchs would have in a galaxy where humanity was truly supreme.
** At one point, Ahriman was offered a "reward" for being such a good pawn in Tzeentch's service: [[CessationOfExistence oblivion]]. But when you think about it, in [[CrapsackWorld this setting]], dying can result in your soul being claimed as plaything by the Chaos Gods [[AndIMustScream for all eternity.]] In its own twisted way, this is a sincere PetTheDog moment, especially coming from Tzeentch. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) for Ahriman, Tzeentch just found another use for him.
%%** Regularly and gleefully used by the Dark Eldar and Chaos.
%%** The Inquisition are by no means above this, either. [[EvilVersusEvil Or anyone else for that matter]].

[[folder:Toys]]
* [[BigBad Makuta Teridax]] from ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' has done this a couple times in the story.
** In the wake of the Great Cataclysm in the Adventures arc (also seen in the ''Legends of Metru Nui'' film), Teridax absorbs [[BrainsAndBrawn Nidhiki and Krekka]], as well as his pet [[FeatheredFiend Nivawk]] after he found the need for their services irrelevant. This was a mixed blessing however; he later claimed that he had trouble suppressing their minds within his own, distracting him enough for the heroes to win.
** Teridax arranged for the destruction of his entire [[BrotherhoodOfEvil brotherhood]], to ensure that no other Makuta would be left to fight against or otherwise threaten him once his plan succeeds. He sent some of his best men to Karda Nui, the "heart of the universe", to keep the Toa Nuva from re-energizing it until the timing was right. One thing he didn't tell them was that the reactivation of Karda Nui would unleash an energy storm that vaporizes anything within it. He also intended to off the Nuva and whoever else resided in Karda Nui (whom he had used as his unsuspecting pawns), but they managed to escape the storm. However, supplementary material later revealed that he had kept some Makuta alive to enslave them and make them produce Kraata slugs to power his [[{{mook}} Rahkshi]].

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'', [[ManEatingPlant Audrey II]] has no qualms about eating Seymour after his plans get enough momentum to go on without him.
* In ''Theatre/PokemonLive'', after Pikachu teaches [=MechaMew2=] its electric moves, he and Ash are no longer useful to Giovanni, so he tries to kill them with Hyper Beam.
* Alluded to in Wildhorn's ''Wonderland'', in which [[BigBad the Mad Hatter]] mentions in one of her Villain Songs that she intends to dispose of her UnwittingPawn the Queen of Hearts once she obtains full control of Wonderland.
-->"Now every piece is in place, and all that's left to erase\\
Before I take over all the power\\
Is every trace of dear Alice\\
Then the Queen..."

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In the fourth case of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'', Mack Rell, after killing Deid Mann for the smuggling ring, accuses Byrne Faraday of hiring him and being the Yatagarasu ([[spoiler:he's lying about the former but correct about the latter]]). After his true client [[spoiler:Calisto Yew]] kills Byrne, he helps her rearrange the scene of the crime, then gets shot dead for his efforts.
* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': During the third murder case [[spoiler:Celestia "Celeste" Ludenberg uses her skills as a ConsummateLiar]] and [[ManipulativeBitch manipulates]] [[spoiler:Hifumi Yamada]] into helping them with a murder plan, which consists in [[spoiler: Hifumi murdering Kiyotaka Ishimaru, [[TheScapegoat pinning the crime on Yasuhiro Hagakure]] and faking his death]] so that [[spoiler:Celeste]] can kill another student... but as [[spoiler:Hifumi]] later found out, that other student was no one but themselves. [[spoiler:[[TooDumbToLive How he never considered the fact that he had to pretend being dead suspicious is anyone's guess]]]].
* ''VisualNovel/Ever17'' offers rare heroic example. [[spoiler:In the 17 years between the first [=LeMU=] incident, and the "Third Eye" project Dr Tanaka had collected enough evidence of villainous activity of [[GreaterScopeVillain Leiblich Pharmaceutical]] to completely destroy them, but she didn't touch them yet, because she needed them for the "Third Eye" project. However, once the project was done and she no longer needed them, the evidence reached the right hands and Leiblich got wrecked.]]
* Most of the villans of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' are of the manipulator kind and are really fond of this trope. [[spoiler:Kotomine]] tries pulling it on Shirou and Saber in Fate after [[spoiler:he fails to tempt them with the Grail]] (fails because Lancer interferes), and [[spoiler:Rin]] in Unlimited Blade Works (fails because Lancer interferes) -- [[spoiler:followed by pulling it on Lancer himself by ordering him to kill himself (succeeds, but Lancer [[TakingYouWithMe takes him down with him]])]]. In Heaven's Feel, [[spoiler:Zouken]] takes over the BigBad-ship and ends up trying to pull this trope on [[spoiler:Sakura]] and fails.
* In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', [[spoiler:Okonogi gives Takano this treatment near the end of Matsubayashi-hen after it becomes clear her plans to trigger Protocol 34 have been completely foiled. Complete with a HannibalLecture about how Tokyo never really cared about her research and was only using her a pawn. He than hands her a gun with a single bullet and tells her to blow her brains out. And if not for the intervention of Hanyu, that is what she most likely would have done. It is safe to assume that she does not fare better in the other worlds either.]] This is an especially unusual example because [[spoiler:Takano is supposed to be the BigBad.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/ShinraiBrokenBeyondDespair'', this trope is part of the reason for [[spoiler:Kotoba's]] murder. [[spoiler:Momoko, the mastermind behind the plot and the first victim, planned on killing her boyfriend Hiro and then herself to frame her best friend, Kamen, for the murder, and disguised the plot as a prank involving the two of them, but needed an additional accomplice. So she turned to Kotoba, who had a crush on her and had been stalking her, which meant he'd be easy to manipulate and she wouldn't feel bad about killing him. After Momoko killed Hiro and made it look like Kamen did it, she made her way back to Kotoba, who'd holed up in the breaker room, knocked him out and set the room on fire. Not only did killing him remove one of the people who knew about her plan, and the only one who could corroborate Kamen's story that Momoko had manipulated her and the two victims, but it provided a distraction while she hanged herself]].
* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', [[spoiler:the same Okonogi from Higurashi is eventually revealed to have been working with the main Sumadera branch to eliminate Kasumi and her guards. Because Ange had at that point become a liability and could become a witness, Okonogi ordered Amakusa to kill Ange as soon as he finished off Kasumi and her guards.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* [[spoiler:Benjamin Palmer]] does this to [[spoiler:Col. Keene]] near the end of ''WebAnimation/BrokenSaints'', then has it done to him in turn by [[spoiler:Lear Dunham]].
* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': When Melinda fiends out Pita went through a HeelFaceTurn, she vaporizes him with a beam. He ends up regenerating though.
-->'''Melinda:''' Since you have given up on your life's purpose, you are of no use to me!
* ''WebAnimation/FreedomToons'': In "Biden's Actual Inauguration", in the middle of UsefulNotes/JoeBiden's inaugurations speech, UsefulNotes/KamalaHarris then has Biden taken away and have herself inaugurated right then and there.
* [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} Hades]] does this in ''WebAnimation/TheFrolloShow'' to [[Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt Scanty and Kneesocks]] in the episode "Frollo Misses His Mother". This was after Frollo, Gaston, Lefou, and Hans Frollo escape Hell by using [[spoiler:Sonic's spring]]. They managed to escaped because [[spoiler:Hans makes a surprising appearance and covers them with his sperm]]. They apologize to Hades, only for him to respond by kicking them into the River Styx and JustForFun/{{Rickroll}}ing them as [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment punishment]].
* ''Machinima/GamingAllStars'':
** [[spoiler: Polygon Man]] does this to [[spoiler: Eggman, Cortex, and G-Man]] in ''The Ultimate Crossover'', [[spoiler: who only used them so they could (Unwittingly) help Andross pull the moon into the Earth’s orbit]].
** ''Remastered'' adds another layer: [[spoiler: When Eggman arrives to meet Radec before going to the Moon, Radec pulls his gun out, shoots Eggman, and yanks his Dark Cannon. ''Then'', he kills [[VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape Razorbeard]] because he doesn’t want to share Polygon Man’s power with anyone else.]] On top of that, [[spoiler: once Radec actually meets Polygon Man, the latter refuses to offer the former the boost of energy he anticipated, instead turning him into a mindless Polygon slave, just before heralding [[GreaterScopeVillain Andross’]] arrival and planning to turn the heroes into his slaves as well]].
* ''WebAnimation/McBusters'', a WholePlotReference to ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'' and ''Film/GhostbustersII'' using the Advertising/McDonaldland characters, features Advertising/TheBurgerKing in the role of Vigo the Carpathian and creator of the documentary ''Film/SuperSizeMe'' Morgan Spurlock serving as the equivalent to Janos Poha. Once he's made free of the painting imprisoning him by discrediting the [=McBusters=], the Burger King proceeds to state that he no longer needs Spurlock and turns him into a pile of [=McDonald's=] food.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': After [[spoiler:the attack on Haven]] fails miserably, [[spoiler:[[TheMole Lionheart]]]] decides to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere try and run]]. [[spoiler:[[BigBad Salem]] has the Seer kill him, because his only usefulness was his status as Haven's headmaster. [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath Quite brutally]], [[SoundOnlyDeath from the sound of it]]]]. What really hammers it in is how casual [[spoiler: Salem]] is while doing it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/TheBMovieComic'', The Dr. Claw-style unseen villain [[http://www.bmoviecomic.com/index.php?cid=469 rewards]] one of his mooks.
* Tim the Gholem in ''Webcomic/BoomerExpress'', who tricked Vikki and worked with Kaminovo and Kyominara to awaken a Precursor is RewardedAsATraitorDeserves by the two demons.
* Happens a couple of times in ''Webcomic/DragonBallMultiverse''. For example, [[spoiler:Bojack does it to Bido, and Cell to his Cell Jr.]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', Quain'tana gives Syphile a warning that she has "[[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=5043 outlived your purpose [raising Ariel] and my patience]]" and effectively banishes her. The threat to kill her is not explicitly said (and considering [[AbusiveParents the end result]] of her raising Ariel, it was more of a YouHaveFailedMe anyway), but it's definitely there. Later, she [[spoiler:made good on it, though Syphile attacked ''her'' first rather than the other way around, and Quain actually displays some admiration that she had the guts to try and kill her before she gives her a quick death.]]
** Snadhya'rune also threatens [[spoiler:her daughter]] Kalki with this after her impulsive actions cost her a potentially valuable ally, [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=10163 telling her]] to "go, before I find I no longer need you." [[spoiler:Like Quain, she makes good on the threat by the end of the chapter]].
* Black Mage from ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' was always a fan of Chaos and made [[CardCarryingVillain no attempts to hide it]]. [[spoiler:Once Chaos himself shows up, he makes it clear that he intends to slaughter BM as well as everything else.]]
* Subverted in ''Webcomic/ErrantStory'', where it's the ''good guys'' (or at least the antihero) who invoke the trope (by [[http://www.errantstory.com/2005-08-08/398 name]]) to dispose of bandit Jim after Sarine coerces him into revealing the location of the bandit camp. Sarine herself is perfectly happy to have the guy go off to the PowersThatBe and turn himself in, but Jon prefers a more ... direct ... approach.
* In ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'', Wrecking Paul is [[spoiler:a serial killer preying on women, as well as]] a thief. When faced with Mr. Mighty [[spoiler:instead of the female hero he was expecting]], he [[MoralEventHorizon turns on his accomplice]]. [[spoiler:Apparently he goes through a lot of them.]]
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'':
** During her escape from Sturmhalten Lucrezia abruptly wraps up Lady Vrin as a loose end because she can't afford to have Vrin captured by the Baron.
** And Lord Snackleford wipes out all of his fellow Gray Hood conspirators the instant [[spoiler: he achieves "second-stage" Sparkhood.]]
** Smoke Knight Madwa Korvel ''plans'' to do this with the airship captain contracted to covertly haul her to an island hideout, but changes her mind when he preemptively shows he [[GenreSavvy fully expects]] it to happen, and is completely apathetic about it.
* Otacon from ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFoxhound'' uses Sniper Wolf as an intermediary to tell Liquid that he's finished modifying Metal Gear to fire nukes, stating that he suspects Liquid will adhere to this trope and kill him the moment he finds out. [[ForegoneConclusion Obviously]], it doesn't happen.
* Once it becomes clear in ''Webcomic/TheLettersOfTheDevil'' that [[spoiler:Chuck's reputation is irrevocably tarnished, Susan kills him while saying, "You're too broken."]]
* In ''Webcomic/MitadakeSaga'', Keiichi [[spoiler:kills both Kazu and Yuki after they've finished all the testing of the Death Note and are unable to provide him with names respectively]]
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** When Redcloak informs Xykon that his ogre minions are asking for payment, Xykon kills them and zombifies them. "Just as strong, but they eat less!"
** It's implied that Xykon is grooming Tsukiko to replace Redcloak since he's becoming increasingly unreliable.
** Later on however Redcloak disposes of [[spoiler:the wights by ordering them to kill (and eat) themselves]] in order to cover up [[spoiler:the murder of Tsukiko]]. When he tells Xykon that [[spoiler:he killed Tsukiko for being TheStarscream]], Xykon's response is "been there, done that, didn't really need [[spoiler:her]]" (combined with some face saving).
** An interesting example between General Tarquin and [[spoiler: his son Nale]]. For a very long time, Tarquin was willing to overlook [[spoiler:Nale's staggering incompetence and overall detrimental effect on his plans, simply because he was his son and he loved him. However, when Nale boasts about killing Malack and then rejects Tarquin's LastSecondChance to reconcile, Tarquin stops treating him like his son and starts treating him as an asset]]. [[spoiler:[[YouHaveFailedMe A pragmatically evil overlord like Tarquin only has one reaction to a useless asset]].]]
-->'''Tarquin:''' Is that really how you feel? [...] *sigh* As you wish, [[spoiler:son]].
* ''Webcomic/SequentialArt'':
-->'''[[AIIsACrapshoot OZBASIC]]:''' [[AC:You have served your purpose. [[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=508 Prepare]] for deathly laser death time..... [[EnergyWeapon WITH LASERS!]]]]
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Magus kills Sirleck as soon as he regains a body as he was working with Sirleck only to that end. It helps that Sirleck was [[InevitableMutualBetrayal also planning to betray him]] by permanently possessing his newfound body.
-->'''Magus:''' Not once did I ask you who you planned to possess after Ellen. Should've been a red flag.
* ''Webcomic/UnOrdinary'': Volcan kills Alana when it's clear she's not going to learn any more from Alana drugging herself with the experimental ability amplifier, and that heroes are using Alana to trace their way back to her providers.
* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': Starfish tries to have Mathis killed once he's able to hire another wright, since Mathis' insistance that the children come with him and are not further harmed is an annoyance for Starfish's smuggling operation. Tries is the key word, Mathis doesn't go down without a fight and with Jivi's help manages to escape with his life.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Roleplay/FenQuest'': When Sir Gauche's sister brings the Dragoncloth to Vackles (as far as they both know, it's the real one) in order to bargain for her and her brother's lives, he has her killed as soon as he gets his hands on the package. This doesn't go unpunished, as when his Dragon is busy executing her, he can't defend him from Fen.
* [[http://www.villainsource.com VillainSource]]'s [[http://www.villainsource.com/lairs.html Lairs & Bases page]] advises prospective villains to do this with their construction crews once their lairs are complete, because "A Secret Lair isn't so secret with a couple of hundred ex-construction workers wandering the globe, blabbing to bar patrons about the secret shark trap you built into your underwater grotto."
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'':
** [[DiabolicalMastermind Coil]] attempts to kill [[VillainProtagonist Skitter]] when her [[EvenEvilHasStandards morals]] outweigh the benefits that she offers and she has accomplished the goal of taking over the city for him that he has set out. In order to do this, he teleports her to an abandoned building and shoots her in the chest, and then, when [[BulletproofVest she survives]], he sets the building on fire and has his men fire at it constantly to ensure that she does not escape. When she escapes, she finds her allies, outmaneuvers Coil, shoots him in the head, and takes over his organization.
** Later, the ostensibly heroic [[spoiler:Irregulars]] pull this on [[spoiler:their leader, Weld]], once he has led them to victory over [[spoiler:Cauldron.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* In the GrandFinale of ''WebVideo/BelkinusNecrohunt'', [[spoiler: after the CameBackWrong Bloodstride she summoned for protection falls in battle, Chandrelle insults how much he schemed when he lived before siphoning his remaining power to go OneWingedAngel.]]
* Implied at the end of [[{{Creepypasta}} "Normal Porn for Normal People"]]. The last video featured in the story involves one of the actresses for the titular site being BoundAndGagged before the people running the site open the door for a shaved, rabid chimpanzee, which proceeds to maul the poor woman to death. The title of the video in question? "Useless.avi".
* [[spoiler: Clarota]] tries to pull this in ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', turning on the party after they help him achieve his goals. [[BoomHeadshot Percy doesn't let him get away with it.]]
* In Creator/AchievementHunter's ''[[LetsPlay/AchievementHunterGrandTheftAutoSeries Let's Play Grand Theft Auto V]]'' "Heist" episodes, this has been done three times:
** The first two times times were by Ryan, who [[spoiler:kills Geoff in the first Heist [(Geoff's) Heist] and tries to kill Ray in the third (Ryan's Heist). However, he forgot to get his share of the money from Geoff, denying him an actual victory and Ray kills him before he could kill Ray.]]
** The third time was by Michael, who [[spoiler:initiates a plan so that he can kill off Ryan, Ray, Geoff and Kerry and split the money between himself, Gavin and Lindsay.]]
* Douglas Hyland and Julian Hunter in ''WebVideo/SplinterCellExtinction''. [[spoiler:The latter [[UnexplainedRecovery gets better]].]]
* Played with in ''WebVideo/StupidMarioBrothers''. [[spoiler:After Shadow Mario fulfilled his usefulness to Mr. L, he died, but not at the hands of Mr. L...]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* A non-lethal version occurs in the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' episode "The Last Resort", when Robotnik talks to one of his minions over the phone.
--> '''Fumfer:''' The hedgehog bought it, your malignancy! He's on his way to the island now!\\
'''Robotnik:''' Ah, excellent work, Fumfer! You're fired!\\
'''Fumfer:''' Fired?! Why? I did my job perfectly!\\
'''Robotnik:''' Exactly! That's why ''I don't need you anymore!''
* Attempted by Long Feng in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. After Azula helps him stage a coup against the Earth King, he orders his Dai Li agents to arrest her. However, Azula turns the tables by revealing that the Dai Li work for her now and, in fact, ''she'' has no further use for ''him''.
** Azula herself is subject to a non-fatal but still exceptionally cruel one of these in the finale, by her own father no less. He rewards her for all her loyalty by naming her his successor as Fire Lord, and then immediately crowns himself [[GodEmperor Phoenix King]] of the entire planet, rendering her new position [[KickedUpstairs totally powerless]].
** From Season 1 of the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', [[BigBad Amon]] tells his flunky [[TheDragon The Lieutenant]] this when the latter discovers his boss's secret -- [[spoiler: Amon himself is actually a bloodbender]].
** In the tie-in novel, ''Literature/TheRiseOfKyoshi'', the previous Avatar Kuruk died at only 33 so his friends are left to find the new Avatar in the Earth Kingdom. Since the Earth Kingdom is the biggest and most populous, the search drags on and on and they ultimately pick the wrong kid, Yun. Kyoshi works in the compound where they’re training Yun and ultimately they figure out that she is the Avatar. The master who’s been teaching him earth bending, Jianzhu, feeds Yun to a spirit once they prove that he’s not the Avatar to protect Kyoshi from said spirit.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Disappearing Inque", Inque, a powerful shapeshifter whose body was falling apart, was freed from prison, given a place to hide out and helped to have her body's cohesion restored by Aaron Herbst, a slightly stalkerish guy who had worked at the prison. While he WAS annoying and probably creepy to be around it still doesn't forgive Inque taking his request to be given powers similar to hers and twisting it by only giving him half the abilities. In a rather nasty case of BodyHorror, [[AndIMustScream the guy now has a body similar to Inque in that its formless and malleable, but he lacks the ability to control it]].
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' has the Joker do this to Lex Luthor -- granted, Luthor tried to kill him, but it's implied that Joker knew that would happen and had been planning this: this being stealing Luthor's prototype flying wing and blow up half of Metropolis.
** CorruptCorporateExecutive Roland Daggett invokes this trope by name after deciding that Matt Hagen [[YouHaveFailedMe failed him for the last time]], setting up a series of events that ends up turning Hagen into Clayface.
* In the MusicalEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', the Music Meister sings his [=brainwashed=] mindslaves into dancing to a fiery grave:
-->''And now that Batman's been delayed, your usefulness has passed\\
A [[FriendOrIdolDecision distraction]] is what I need, so [[PsychicAssistedSuicide kick into that blast!]]''
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'':
** The Joker does this twice: first against some big game hunter who hired him to steal an endangered species of leopard for him to hunt. Joker brings him the leopards, receives a pair of hyenas in return, and then immediately gasses the hunter so he can use his range to hunt Batman. Later, he eventually does this to Wrath and Scorn, who fail to realize that just because they think they're helping criminals doesn't mean Joker wants them to do his job for him.
** In "The Everywhere Man", Batman defeats the titular Everywhere Man by pointing out to his hundreds of clones that they would all be deleted from existence once they win, causing them to turn against Everywhere Man himself.
* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'': Vilgax does this to Eon and his army of evil Bens by activating a Chronosapien Time Bomb that destroys them along with every other Ben Tennyson in the multiverse and their respective timelines (minus No Watch Ben).
* NOS-4-A2 in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'' makes it very clear that he's going to dispose of XL after he's no longer needed for his plan of conquering the galaxy. He even says these exact words to XL after he says he killed both Buzz Lightyear and XR. Unfortunately for NOS-4-A2, XL had a HeelFaceTurn and was lying about killing the space rangers.
-->'''NOS-4-A2:''' Excellent. You've served me well. But You Have Outlived Your Usefulness.\\
'''Buzz Lightyear:''' For evil, maybe. But not for good!
* ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse:'' in "Where There's A Well, There's A Way," a hooded figure named Copper-Conk Cassidy trails DM and Penfold in their quest to find the mystic inkwell of Merlin the Magician. As they traverse the Cave of Coffins, Copper-Conk, with mallet in hand sneaks in and quips "Goodbye, Danger Mouse. You have served your purpose." Subverted immediately as he falls into a hole.
* This is [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Alvin the Treacherous]] favourite line to use when his subordinates fail In ''WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'', Zordrak recurrently fired Urpgor and thrown him out of Viltheed whenever he found a resource that made his wacky inventions redundant, holding a grudge against him for his failure rate and conniving attitude. In one case, Urpgor helps him get the aforementioned trinket with the assurance this trope won't happen this time and he will be "suitably rewarded". As expected, Zordrak lied, his "reward" being he won't play the trope ''full on'' and execute him as he'd prefer. Pretty much all these instances end up with a vengeful Urpgor sabotaging Zordrak's plan or helping the heroes ruin it so he is forced to rehire him again.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|1987}}'': "Your usefulness is at an end!", said by El Capitan to Flinheart Glomgold at the end of "Wrongway in Ronguay", threatening him with a cannon. An unfazed Glomgold reverses the cannon back onto him however...with El Capitan doing likewise...and Glomgold again... leading to a "{{No|You}}, '''''[[NoYou You]]''''' Have Outlived Your Usefulness" argument until the cannon fires and thwarts them both.
* Typhonus lays it out fairly openly in ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'' when asked about Barca, a traitor Pirate helping the Neosapiens in return for Pirate dominion over Venus: "All of Venus Barca will ever see is a six-foot hole in the ground."
** Ironically, Typhonus himself had been on the receiving end of such earlier (He got better because of CloningBlues).
* Xanatos tries this on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' in the series' opening after his initial plan has succeeded. It doesn't work.
* White Knight, a good guy (relatively), in the series ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'' implies to Agent Six that he will do this to Rex if the teenager refuses to obey orders.
* ''WesternAnimation/InchHighPrivateEye'': A scientist working for Mr. Finkerton developed a mechanical flea [[JobStealingRobot that could make detectives unnecessary]]. When it was stolen, Finkerton tasked Inch High with finding it, claiming Inch High [[YouHaveFailedMe would be fired if he failed]] and that, if he succeeded, [[MortonsFork he'd fired anyway because Finkerton would no longer need him]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', Shendu did this to Valmont and the Enforcers after getting all of his talismans. Later in Season 2, he no longer needed Finn, Ratso, and Chow to carry the Pan'Ku box and sends them out (it is notable, though, that he lets them live at all, presumably because they actually did what they were supposed to do). Shendu tries to do this to Hak Foo, but Valmont wouldn't allow him. However, Shendu soon figured out he had invoked the trope too soon, as he still needed the box, even if just to delay his sibling's wrath.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' episode "The Riddle of the Gold", a villainous maharaja working with Dr. Zin on a fake gold mine makes the big mistake of mentioning that he will be sharing the ill-gotten gains with Zin. At that statement, Zin casually orders his lackey to implement Phase 2 of his plan. When the Maharajah asks for a light and asks what Zin is referring to, the lackey suddenly hits the Maharajah with a hidden spring-loaded poison needle in his lighter to kill him since he is not needed anymore.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'':
** Doomsday manipulates an [[SanitySlippage increasingly disgruntled and unstable]] Professor Milo into releasing him from his bonds in [[CapeBusters Cadmus]] HQ. The very first thing he does upon being freed is summarily kill Milo because he's useless now.
** Tala, following her failed revolt against ComicBook/LexLuthor, realizes Lex was planning on [[LivingBattery using her to revive]] ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} all along, even though it would kill her. When it finally happens, [[WomanScorned Tala]] tampers with the process in a final act of defiance by reviving ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} instead. The evil alien invokes this trope by killing almost all of the remaining rogues for their efforts, with the caveat that, being a God of cruelty and tyranny, he genuinely considers a quick death a great reward.
-->'''Darkseid:''' It would appear that I have you to thank for my resurrection. Though your planet will suffer slowly, I grant you the mercy of a quick death.
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleDrummerBoy'', Ben Haramad sells Aaron's camel after one of those used by the Three Kings falls under the load it's carrying. A disgusted Aaron rejects the final pay from that sale and storms off. When Ali tries to go after him, Ben Haramad tells him that Aaron is free to go ''because'' he had outlived his usefulness.
-->'''Ben Haramad:''' Let him go. ''We're done with him.''
* WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes and WesternAnimation/MerrieMelodies:
** "A Mutt in a Rut": Elmer Fudd-- in a rare cartoon where he stars as the hero, not the sympathetic villain-- loves his dog, Rover, and has no plans to kill him. However, Rover – having just watched "The Dog-Lover's Hour" and host Carlton Canine speak about how some dog-owners shoot and kill their dogs once they've grown old-- becomes paranoid after hearing Canine ominously editorialize, "Two go out ... but only one comes back!" Rover, annoyed at not always getting his way, is convinced Elmer has him marked for death but-- since he is a dog-- is unable to tell Elmer specifically what is bothering him, and is set off when Elmer suggests a good hunting trip will do him good. Rover, thinking he's saving himself, decides to kill Elmer off himself and makes several attempts to off his unwary master; however, Rover gets the worst end of things. Only at the end of the cartoon, when he sees Rover somehow limp to the studio to attack the host of "The Dog-Lover's Hour" does Elmer even start to get an idea of what is bothering his beloved pet; Rover had finally become convinced that his place in the Fudd household was secure after his last attempt went awry, and was now determined to make Canine pay for needlessly stressing him out.
* In the one-hour special of ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'', the Metal-Masked Assassin does this to [[spoiler:Magnus Hammersmith after the latter [[EvenEvilHasStandards objects to the former's murder of the innocent Ishneafus Meaddle]]. Unusually, Magnus actually survives the attempt on his life, but swiftly [[HeelRealization realizes how horrible his complicity in the Assassin's other evil deeds was]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath and commits suicide]]]].
* Done by [[spoiler:Tirek]] in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 Twilight's Kingdom Part 2]]'' to [[spoiler:Discord]]. [[spoiler:Tirek]] doesn't ''kill'' [[spoiler:Discord]], but he does drain him of all his magic and power and all but quotes this trope.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' Standard practice of Emperor Belos
** He resorts to this two times in "Hollow Mind" [[spoiler:when he tries to kill Luz, since the StableTimeLoop he needed her alive for has already been completed, and when he buries Hunter in his mind once he starts questioning Belos. He has also done this to every [[ArtificialHuman Golden Guard]] before Hunter, which Belos sees as [[ExpendableClone Expendable Clones]], and its implied that part of the reason he makes them is [[{{Sadist}} his enjoyment]] at getting to kill them once they aren't usable for him.]]
** New heights are reached in "King's Tide" [[spoiler:where Belos not only betrays the Collector and attempts to leave him to rot in his prison, but he tries to pull this on every single person in the Boiling Isles who has ever served him, willingly or not, as an effect of the draining spell. When Kikimora asks what she could possibly do to gain his favour, he coldly tells her to "go find a hole to wither away in".]] This backfires ''hard'' when [[spoiler:the Collector [[DoNotTauntCthulhu gets loose anyways]] thanks to making a deal with [[SpannerInTheWorks King]], and then proceeds to [[CurbStompBattle turn him into a literal smear on the wall]].]]
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'' finale "London Town Treachery" has the Ant Hill Mob turned into miniature Mr. Hydes after drinking a tea that the Hooded Claw spiked with a Jekyll-Hyde formula. The Mob puts Penelope in a Claw-type death trap and the Claw subsequently tells his henchmen the Bully Brothers they won't be needed anymore. The Bully Brothers have no recourse but to rescue Penelope to save their jobs.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' episode ''Aspirations'', Sedusa ditches the Gangreen Gang after they steal for her the Egyptian artifacts that transformed her into a giant with snakes for hair (making her even closer to her mythological name {{Medusa}}) admitting that she never loved them. Naturally, [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal this leads to her downfall.]]
* Hack and Slash of ''WesternAnimation/{{Reboot}}'' get this treatment during Season 3, despite never having been useful in the first place. Megabyte is sick of their incompetence and sends them to the front lines [[UriahGambit solely to get rid of them]].
* Professor Pericles on ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' stoops this low in episode 50, where he [[spoiler:orders the death of all the citizens in Crystal Cove once they have found the door to the Nibiru Entity's tomb]].
** [[spoiler:[[KarmicDeath He's on the receiving end]] shortly there after after freeing the Nibiru Entity from [[SealedEvilInACan its prison]]. The Entity replies by possessing and killing him to take his body as its own. It then follows up by eating the rest of the the original Mystery Inc. alive.]]
* Implied in the ''WesternAnimation/SilverHawks'' pilot, where [[BigBad Mon*Star]] begs the prison guards to release him, promising them "wealth beyond wealth" in return. They simply state that they remember what happened to the last guy who fell for that.
* Zig-zagged with Toffee from ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil''. He doesn’t kill his henchmen, but he immediately stops caring about them once they cease to be relevant to his plans and is perfectly fine with letting them be killed by others at that point; when he finally [[spoiler:gets Star to break her wand]], he lets all of Ludo’s underlings die in the massive explosion that ensues because he won’t be needing them afterwards. Later, when he [[spoiler:[[DemonicPossession possesses Ludo himself]], he tosses his avatar aside the second he’s able to regenerate his real body and just barely acknowledges Ludo’s existence.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': this happens a few times, mostly by the Separatists. A good example occurs at the end of the Onderon arc, in which the Jedi covertly help a group of rebels overthrow the Separatist puppet king, Sanjay Rash, to install the rightful one back to his throne. After the climax of the whole conflict, super tactical droid and Separatist advisor to Rash, General Kalani, informs Count Dooku that they ''could'' defeat the rebels, but it would take alot of time, effort, and resources to do so. Dooku decides to cut his losses and has the Separatists pull out, considering Onderon to not be worth it. Rash is in the middle of asking what's going to happen to him, now that the rebels will be taking over, when Kalani shoots him dead.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': In "[[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E20TwilightOfTheApprenticePartII Twilight of the Apprentice]]" Maul makes clear that he'll only let the ''Ghost'' crew live as long as he needs them, and orders them killed the second he has Ezra and the holocrons.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E2KnightTime Knight Time]]", Bruce Wayne narrowly avoids this trope with Brainiac thanks to [[ItMakesSenseInContext Superman disguised as Batman]]. Bruno Mannheim didn't turn out so lucky with Darkseid.
-->'''Mannheim:''' You promised you'd [[WeCanRuleTogether make me a king!]]\\
'''Darkseid:''' And so you are: [[ILied King of Fools.]]
* Trigon does this to Slade during the fourth season finale of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''. [[spoiler:Slade saw it coming, acquired a magical artifact that protected him from the worst of Trigon's wrath, and managed to survive. He spends the rest of the finale [[EnemyMine helping the Titans]] take Trigon down]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''
** In the first season, Heather does pulls this trope on Lindsay when the latter is eliminated after being the last contestant to get to the finish line in the bike race. Heather was the only one that could save her supposed friend from elimination and she chose to not do it.
** Chris [=McLean=] says the stock phrase verbatim to Owen in Season 4 (''Total Drama [[NewSeasonNewName Revenge of the Island]]'') when the latter asks why he and the cast of the first three seasons aren't competing this time. Chris then sticks an explosive charge on Owen's face and detonates it.[[note]]Being a toon in a comedy, Owen survives none the worse.[[/note]]
** Also in Season 4, Jo says a variation of the stock phrase about Lightning.
** In the same season, this trope is inverted (in which the underling does this to their boss) when Cameron does this to Jo by blowing up her smoke machine and getting her voted out. He gets out of trouble by saying that he "learned from the best,".
* In ''Franchise/{{Transformers}},'' Megatron's character uses this trope on a regular basis -- the 'cons all know it and he has said it word for word on more than one occasion. He is so notorious for this that in G1, the Insecticons once rationalised he can't have been the one to betray them because he still had a use for them -- they added right to his face that they wouldn't be surprised if he did so later, and he didn't bother to deny it.
* This sums up Megatron's working relationship with Starscream in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' from Season 3 onward. For most of the season he was the only few individuals Megatron had at his disposal. However, as soon as he completes his plan to create living superweapons, he terminates their alliance.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', when Silas is critically injured, a team of MECH scientists saves him by [[spoiler:connecting him to Breakdown's lifeless body]]. He thanks them for their dedication and service... then kills them and leaves to [[spoiler:join with the Decepticons.]] Which makes it all the more ironic and satisfying, when in the same episode, the tactical advantage which Silas offered [[spoiler:to Megatron]] goes up in smoke, and he is handed over [[spoiler:to Knock-Out's dissection table for further study.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TUFFPuppy'' episode, "Bored of Education", a group of kids from Petropolis Elementary School decide to join the Chameleon in raiding a bunch of stores, but the second they play with all the stuff they raided, he sees them as deceiving him since all the stuff is only for him, thus he denounces them as his friends and decides to eat them.
* Subverted in the pilot episode "The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay" of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''. The BigBad is getting some acupuncture when his {{mook}} comes in and tells him that Doctor Venture is unveiling a new invention. Having received this information, the BigBad grabs some acupuncture needles out of his body and throws them at the mook, seemingly killing him. As the BigBad is reading the newspaper article about Doctor Venture, the mook speaks up and the BigBad looks up from the paper to see the mook thanking him for curing his shoulder pain and also his smoking habit.
* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' Season 2: Once Darkar has the four pieces of [[ArtifactOfDoom the codex]] and Dark Bloom at his side, he makes clear that he doesn't need the Trix anymore by tossing them into a black hole. That decision bites him in the ass not much later...
** The Trix get hit with this from Valtor and Tritannus as well.
* ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'':
** Zaladane says exactly this to Sauron in the episode "Savage Land, Strange Heart Part 2." It doesn't work out well for her.
** During the Apocalypse arc, the villain tries to do this to Magneto, but he sees through it, and with Mystique, had a back up plan just in case. "I never trusted you, Apocalypse. I'm not a fool."
* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''
** Kroloteans who are under The Lights employ are killed off by them, in favor of their new partner The Reach.
** Averted with [[KidnappedScientist Dr. Rouquette]]. After their EvilPlan of the week has been foiled, the League of Shadows refrain from killing her on principle, pointing out to Rouquette that they might need her skills in the future, implying [[WeAreEverywhere they can just snatch her again at any time]].
* ''Young Samson & Goliath'' episode "Moon Rendezvous". After Kunev Khan delivers the Graviton ship to the Moon Leader, the Leader tells Khan that he is no longer necessary to his plans and pulls out a weapon with the intent of murdering him. Luckily for Khan, Samson and Goliath show up to interfere.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* As mentioned in ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', it can be a case of TruthInTelevision if farm animals are killed after they are no longer able to perform their intended function, perhaps to reduce costs on the industry to feed and shelter useless livestock.
** Most infamously, the idea of old and ailing horses being sent to the glue factory.
** Hens that are too old to lay eggs (or just too old to lay eggs quickly enough) suffer such a fate, and are often slaughtered and added to processed meat products or as fertilizer or animal feed. They at least have it off easier than ''male'' chicks, who are ground up alive en masse at only one day old as they will never lay eggs and are of no use to the egg industry.
** A similar fate befalls male dairy calves: as they will not produce milk, they are slaughtered for veal at as young as two weeks of age. As mother cows suckle their young for up to two years, the extra milk she produces is what we buy in groceries, and once she stops lactating, she is mated again only for her next calf to be killed so that the milk she produced for it can be harvested. The use of this trope is why ethical vegans oppose the milk and egg industries.
* According to apocrypha, this was at the center of the supposed Pixar/Disney feud back in 2005, with Disney getting upset by the "upstart" Pixar, which in turn was tired of being the sidekick to Disney when in fact their movies were making Disney billions.
* Activision falls into this trope in an excellent way. Remember Call of Duty, the game that was developed by Infinity Ward, the very same company that gave Activision billions of dollars? Well, Activision fired two key figures of Infinity Ward and has said that the developer will not make more games of that franchise; instead, Treyarch and a new developer would take care of the franchise. However, this was partially subverted after several civil suit with Infinity Ward staying open to make ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare3'' though most of its original staff resigned to protest Activision's decision.
** Activision is notorious for this. For another example, they had acquired Red Octane entirely for the VideoGame/GuitarHero franchise, then promptly had Neversoft and a couple other teams pump out as many titles as possible, which, by the end of 2010, had been 13 games in less than five years. At this point, the franchise had made Activision a few ''billion'' dollars. The moment sales started slipping, partly due to Activision's self-induced market oversaturation, Red Octane was dissolved and, as of February 2011, the franchise was dead until the announcement of ''Guitar Hero Live''.
* An unfortunate reality in the AAA VideoGames industry. Many workers (programmers, graphic designers, 3D modelers, animators, etc.) are hired to work on large projects with astronomical budgets, only to be fired once said project is complete. Many companies don't even go that far, and just fire their workers before they're legally required to provide any benefits (such as Health Insurance).
* After the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober October Revolution and Civil War]] in Russia was over, many of its ideologists were purged because [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Josef Stalin]] claimed that as vehement revolutionaries they knew nothing except staging rebellions and rooting out inner enemies. Stalin then proceeded to root out "inner enemies" (such as [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust the Jews]], here called "rootless cosmopolitans") until ''1953'', long after every single member of the original Bolshevik party had been executed or exiled. He was gearing up for another round of this trope when (scientists discovered decades later) he was poisoned by one of his own inner circle, who all feared for their lives.
** Subverted if recent discoveries are correct in their assumptions that the death of Stalin (who ''was'' poisoned good and proper) was instigated on the direct order of UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill.
* Companies that practice vitality curve or "stack ranking" methods rate the performance of each employee against each other and fire the lowest performers. Or in other words, every year the 10% of the workforce which have outlived their usefulness are sacked. The usefulness of the policy has been long debated in HR circles, with many arguing, among other things, that [[https://www.perdoo.com/blog/stack-ranking/ this system encourages employees to spend more time on interoffice politics]] than actually working.
* The end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar caused a great deal of this among the Third World. Now that they weren't needed as anti-Communist bulwarks, dictators like UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein and Manuel Noriega were cut off by the CIA, hung out to dry by the State Department, and invaded by the US Army. This trope also happened to genuinely good guys like Ahmed Shah Massoud, an anti-Taliban mujahadeen whose calls for assistance in Afghanistan and [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror his claims of radical Islam fermenting there]] were mostly ignored during the 1990s.
* The history of international politics is, in some ways, one example of this trope after another. After almost any major war in which the winning side consisted of an alliance of at least roughly equally powerful states, the alliance breaks up, with the erstwhile allies turning on one another. This happens for two primary reasons: the common enemy that had driven them together in the first place is now gone, and there are now spoils of victory to divide. In short, for each member of the victorious alliance, at least one former ally has outlived its usefulness; of course, since states are often highly resilient, these cases are not necessarily fatal for the states involved (although they can certainly be fatal for many individuals).
* The UsefulNotes/ComicsCode Authority ran into this full stop, and it was never really useful to begin with. Basically its role was censoring comics so they wouldn't damage the minds of impressionable young children, but it was created due to the efforts of a man clinging to a false premise based on observations of a subject group that was far too narrow for the scope of what he claimed, and pretty much made up evidence if he couldn't obtain it through the scientific method (which he never tried to apply anyway). Bottom line, all the Comics Code really did was stifle creativity, force comics to be highly formulaic, and prevent any effort to address real social, political, or cultural issues. Comic publishing companies chafed under this until the 1990's, then basically started pushing the envelope as much as they wanted. Eventually all the comic publishers stopped adhering to it, and just published comics without the Code before abandoning it altogether. The CCA become defunct in 2011.
** It's been suggested by several critics that the ThinkOfTheChildren impetus was only ever a smoke-screen for the Code's ''real'' purpose: to drive horror/crime giant Creator/ECComics straight into the ground. See, after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, superhero publishers were pretty much hemorrhaging readers every year, while EC was gobbling up the market with ''far'' more action-packed (''and'' usually more creative) comics. Solution? Launch a nationwide moral panic that superhero titles could weather (sometimes even [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks flourish in]]) better than horror/crime stuff ever could..
* In the [[BlueAndOrangeMorality insect and arachnid world]], this often happens after mating.
** The frequency of females eating males is arguably exaggerated, but in plenty of male invertebrates (including various octopus species), mating [[OutWithABang triggers the animal's programmed death]]. In the females' case, the trigger for death is often laying eggs, which becomes a plot point in ''Literature/CharlottesWeb''.
** Taken to an extreme with the male anglerfish, who latches onto his mate and gradually degenerates into a mere sperm-producing appendage.
* UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher was the longest serving Tory Prime Minister of the 20th century, and one of the most successful politicians of all time. She led her party to three consecutive landslide victories, broke the back of the labour movement and the Labour Party, and permanently shifted British politics to the right. But when she became an electoral liability, the Tory party had nothing for her but this.
** This is pretty damn common in politics in general. If someone is not leaving an office of their own volition (i.e. retirement) or due to term limits, 9 times out of 10, they're being forced out by other people, which could be either the voters or party higher-ups.
* ThoseWackyNazis were very fond of doing this:
** A bleak example from the Holocaust was the Sonderkommando, inmates in Auschwitz who were given good food, cigarettes and lodging by camp standards in exchange for doing the gruesome work of cleaning up and burning all the bodies produced by the gas chambers. While useful, they were also dangerous, [[HeKnowsTooMuch as they knew in intricate detail what was going on and how it was being carried out.]] As a result, Sonderkommandos were regularly gassed and replaced, with the first duty of the replacements being to collect and burn the bodies of their predecessors.
** The Nazis also installed a "Jewish Police" in the various ''Judenviertel'' (ghetto) who were used to maintain order among the captive population and later to round them up for deportation and eventual murder. They had certain privileges above the ordinary Jew, foremost an extended lifespan. Of course, once the ghettos were emptied of all other inhabitants, most of the police were disposed of as well (a small handful were moved into concentration camps designated for essential workers).
** The SA. The ''Sturmabteilung'' was vital to the NSDAP's (and Hitler's) rise to power, however, only two years later, the SA was forcibly disbanded during the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives Night of The Long Knives]] (aka Operation Hummingbird, aka Röhm Putsch). Most of its high-ranking officers were killed either right then and there or soon after.
*** Very narrowly averted in the case of Franz von Papen; even after securing Hitler chancellorship, something Hindenburg would have been very unlikely to grant without Papen's intervention, Hitler strongly considered having him killed on the Night of the Long Knives. Ultimately, he decided against it.
*** Speaking of the SA, the Nazis essentially did this to the gay community. Early on, the party quietly promised to create a world where homosexuality would be accepted. This got them a lot of support from the gay community, in the form of recruits (most of the SA) and money. When the Nazi party grew big enough where the more mainstream homophobic crowd was promising them greater money and even more men, the party simply switched its policy to create a world where homosexuality would be ''eliminated'' instead. This was a convenient excuse to purge the SA; they found plenty of homosexuals to round up [[EvilIsNotAToy by simply going down the party's membership records.]]
*** Generally, as the Nazis grew stronger politically, their ideal of a pure Aryan grew ever narrower. This meant that a lot of the party's initial supporters woke up one day to find that they were now on the wrong end of their party's wrath.
** UsefulNotes/NaziGermany did this to a lot of countries during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, including Vichy France after the Allies landed in French North Africa (nominal Vichyite territory), Italy after the Allies landed in Sicily, and Hungary after they tried to defect. The bungled attempt to do this to the Soviet Union (after much initial cooperation, including the joint invasion of Poland and the Soviets providing Germany with resources to fight against France and Britain) sowed much of the seeds of the Nazis' downfall.
** The Nazi eugenic plan [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_T4 Action T4]] was a program of forced euthanasia under which physicians were directed to judge patients "incurably sick, by critical medical examination," and then administer to these patients a "[[MercyKill mercy death]]". As many as 300,000 were killed under this program.
* Sometimes enforced by the Hollywood studios, either when they feel like a star is fading or just for the hell of it. This happened to Creator/KimBasinger after she backed out of ''Film/BoxingHelena''; she was hit with a lawsuit that left her bankrupt and [[CreatorKiller destroyed her reputation]] to the point where no studios were willing to give her leading roles anymore. Creator/WhoopiGoldberg saw this happen and decided that she'd rather develop a reputation as someone [[MoneyDearBoy who'd do anything for money]] rather than someone [[SeriousBusiness who broke contract agreements]], resulting in ''Film/TheodoreRex'' and the eventual end of her run as a box office draw.
* There's a legend concerning [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars Napoleon's invasion of Russia]]. When he finally entered Moscow, he allegedly saw a gigantic golden cross on one of the Kremlin's towers, and wanted it as a trophy. His soldiers could not reach it, but a Russian, a former bellringer, agreed to help. When he finally leveled the cross down, Napoleon ordered the bellringer to be shot... [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves for treason against Russia]].
* This happens a ''lot'' in Chinese history, especially with the founders of new dynasties, who weaken, or often outright kill, their powerful generals and supporters once their enemies are defeated. There's no point in keeping {{Four Star Badass}}es around when the only side they can possibly put their skills to use against is yours.
* This is usually ''averted'' with secret agents; any people they can coerce into helping them are better alive than dead, especially if they can provide further services in the future. Though that said, the existence of the phrase [[DeadlyEuphemism "terminate with extreme prejudice"]][[note]]to "terminate an employee with prejudice" means to fire them and blacklist them from being rehired by the company, so "extreme prejudice" refers to making sure ''no one'' ever hires the "employee" ever again[[/note]] indicates that it's at the very least sometimes considered.
* When France surrendered in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the British Navy attacked and destroyed their fleet at Mers El-Kebir in order to prevent it being used against the UK, killing 1,297 French sailors.
** Thanks to geography, the UK has done this '''a lot.''' The Royal Navy attacked Copenhagen twice without warning in the Napoleonic period (1801 & 1807) to keep the then-neutral Danish Navy out of Napoleon's hands. This, unsurprisingly, pushed Denmark-Norway into joining the war on Napoleon's side and they scrambled to rebuild as many ships as they could manage.
* A few months after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII ended in Europe, UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill was voted out of office. While he had been a popular and heroic wartime leader, voters were skeptical about his ability to govern in peacetime and much preferred the plans offered by the Labour Party.
** Often overlooked is that, with one exception (shortly after V-E Day and from a pollster who did no other work), polls consistently showed the Conservatives getting their butts kicked in the next election.
* A lot of websites that rely on user contributions to run, particularly some of the more stuffy wikis, have this attitude about their users. As soon as a user ticks off a moderator, makes a poor contribution, or in any way becomes a liability, they label that user as a {{Troll}} and lay down a ban regardless of the positive contributions that user has made. Having particularly trigger-happy moderators can irreparably damage a user-base by doing this, as evading a ban is ''notoriously'' easy these days and there's absolutely zero incentive to actually try and be a better user when you can get banned at the drop of a hat for any minor sleight: [[ThenLetMeBeEvil why bother trying to be good when it's easier to do what you want and dodge punishments?]]
* Kim Jong Un's pulled this on his ''own uncle'', Jang Song Thaek. Jang was the number 2 power in the entire country and helped Kim consolidate power after the death of his father. As soon as that was done, he was hit with countless charges that may or may not even be true, hauled off and executed, and even [[UnPerson retroactively removed from all photos]].
* It is assumed USSR executed UsefulNotes/RaoulWallenberg for this exact reason. GPU captured Wallenberg in Budapest, in order to blackmail Sweden on him after the war. He was intended to be exchanged for Soviet refugees in Sweden. As Sweden refused to co-operate, Wallenberg was executed.
* Since patriarchal societies have historically viewed women as only useful to their husbands and households, some upper-[[TypeCaste caste]] UsefulNotes/{{Hindu|ism}} communities in UsefulNotes/{{India}} developed a tradition called ''sati'', which called for a widow to [[SelfImmolation immolate herself]] on her husband's funeral pyre. (The good news is that it's been banned since the time of UsefulNotes/TheRaj, and even when it was still in practice, it didn't exceed several hundred victims per year out of a population of millions.) Meanwhile in UsefulNotes/{{Europe}} and the colonial Americas, anxiety toward women who no longer had husbands to serve is also probably why [[WidowWitch widows were disproportionately likely]] to be [[BurnTheWitch executed for witchcraft]].
* This has become true in the world of boxing in the 21st century. While fighters before then were allowed to lose and gain experience before building themselves up to become popular attractions, nowadays a fighter must have a reputation of being an undefeated prospect, especially when it comes to big fights. If a fighter loses, their sponsors might abandon them, and their coach might drop them. There have been many unbeaten prospects who lost and were never heard from again, unless they become blue collar gatekeepers, [[ViciousCycle used to challenge the next unbeaten prospect]]. The only way this gets prevented is if a fighter wins enough big fights before losing, hopefully securing a large enough following.
* Silk production. Silkworms have to be cared for and fed to keep them alive through their larva period, but once they've spun the fibers for their cocoon, they're simply boiled and discarded. (Some cuisines -- [[ForeignQueasine the Vietnamese and Thai, for example]] -- cook them, for a nutritious and tasty source of protein.)
* A fairly common practice for a company going through a round of layoffs is to assign one person the emotionally exhausting task of informing everyone who had lost their jobs, and then lay ''them'' off once they're done.
* Most businesses will move to remove an underperforming employee sooner rather than later, rather than having them drag down the rest of the company with them, even if they've done good work in the past.
* The ''ättestupa'' of the Pre-Christian Scandinavians. Elderly members of community were thrown off a cliff and euthanized as useless eaters.
* This is, unfortunately, basically how nature and evolution "see" individuals: once an adult has reproduced and given their offspring the care they need to survive on their own, the parents are pretty much expendable, which is why we didn't evolve any resistance to most diseases that tend to occur late in life, or evolve resistance to aging in the first place.
* Sports. After enough underperforming seasons, something has to give. Whether that's a player or a coach. Very well-known as Black Monday in the NFL.
* This is arguably the basis of democracy. When a leader is considered incompetent or no longer capable of governing effectively, the public might vote them out of office. Their fates may still be better than most examples on this page, as they can still lead comfortable lives after leaving politics. They may receive pensions, leverage the connections they made in office to find work in other fields (going into business, academia, etc.) and be entitled to receive other benefits (e.g. former U.S. Presidents getting Secret Service protection for the rest of their lives).
* The Modernisation Plan of 1955 saw British Railways do this to their fleet of steam locomotives during the 1960s. Whilst the majority had been in operation for 30-40 years (the end of steam on the North Eastern Region in September 1967 saw the withdrawal of several locomotives built before the 1923 grouping), a substantial number, notably the BR-designed "Standard" types, ended up having a ridiculously short working life, with some not even having ten years of life before withdrawal. (The shortest working life was the six years of 92220 ''Evening Star'', but, being the last steam locomotive built by BR, it was marked for preservation from the moment it was built.)
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' (1992)

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': After Aladdin gives the Genie's lamp to a disguised Jafar, he reaches up for Jafar to help pull him out of the collapsing Cave of Wonders. Instead, Jafar grabs him by the wrist and, when Aladdin asks what he's doing, Jafar says, "Giving you your reward! Your ''eternal'' reward!" and pulls out a dagger to kill him. It backfires, though--Abu bites Jafar's arm to save Aladdin, causing both of them to fall back down into the cave instead of being stabbed, seemingly eliminating Aladdin as far as Jafar is concerned, it turns out that Abu has swiped the lamp, leaving Jafar with nothing.

* In ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' The Vulture takes care of the first Shocker of his crew this way, after firing the man because his aloof and careless behavior has become a liability and Shocker attempts to blow the crew's cover as payback. Granted, Vulture only attempted to hit him with the Antigravity Gun but accidentally grabbed a Disintegration Ray...

'''Soundwave:''' [[spoiler:(''As newspaper clippings of dead NASA employees from the past decades appear onscreen.'')]] Laserbeak, [[KillEmAll Kill them all.]]

*** In the opening bank robbery, nonetheless, the Joker walks away with the entire $68 million haul for himself, tricking his clowns into shooting other, and only needing to kill ''one'' person (the bus driver). This seemingly relies on a degree of stupidity and/or [[GenreBlind Genre Blindness]] from the clowns: they're told to kill someone once he's done his part...and don't realize the same will happen to them. One guy ''does'' catch on when he learns another clown was told to do this, but is wrong in who kills him.

** New heights are reached in "King's Tide" [[spoiler:where Belos not only betrays the Collector and attempts to leave him to rot in his prison, but he tries to pull this on every single person in the Boiling Isles who has ever served him, willingly or not, as an effect of the draining spell. When Kikimora asks what she could possibly do to gain his favour, he coldly tells her to "go find a hole to wither away in".]]

* A non-fatal version is used in ''Film/TradingPlaces''. Millionaire brothers, Mortimer and Randolph Duke, owners of a prestigious trading company make a bet centering around the NatureVersusNurture debate, and bring in Billy Ray Valentine, a black two bit hustler, and train him to be a stock broker, while they ruin the life of Lois Winthrope [=III=], one of their best traders, by freezing his accounts, and kicking him out of his mansion. After Winthrope unsuccessfully tries tries to frame Valentine and flees into the night after crashing the Christmas party, the Duke brothers settle their [[spoiler: one dollar]] bet in a bathroom, and discuss how they will switch back Valentine and Winthorpe's lives. They instead agree that they don't Winthorpe working for them anymore, and when the topic of Valentine comes up, they also agree that they don't want him [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain (using a racial slur in their description)]] in their company, and they'll keep him on until soon after New Year's day when they plan on making a fortune [[WhiteCollarCrime through insider trading]]. This would come back to bite them, [[BathroomStallOfOverheardInsults since Valentine was in a stall and heard everything.]]

* Discussed in the ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story "A Little Knowledge", when a small-time crook discovers the secret identity of local crimefighter Jack-In-The-Box. He considers getting rich by selling the information to a local crime lord, then realizes that his life could be forfeit once the deal is complete.

* In the [[ComicBook/ChickTracts Chick Tract]] "The Poor Revolutionist" the Communist VillainProtagonist dies this way.

* In ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Sonic Universe's]]'' "30 Years Later" storyline, [[KnightTemplar King Shadow]] [[spoiler:breaks Lien-Da's armband, causing her to fade into the time-line]] after she rescues him from stasis. This seems to be because she questioned [[spoiler:releasing Tikhaos]].
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': Roderick Kingsley kills Jason Macendale Jr., mostly because Jason gave the name Hobgoblin a bad rep and he was coming back to show everyone how it was done.

** In ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl1982 Supergirl Vol. 2]]'', Supergirl faces down to a clone of super-villain Parasite programmed to self-destruct after carrying out his creator's goals.

%%** ''ComicBook/SuperboyNew52'': [[spoiler:Harvest wants him dead for this reason.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' Tala, following her failed revolt against ComicBook/LexLuthor, realizes Lex was planning on [[LivingBattery using her to revive]] ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} all along, even though it would kill her. When it finally happens, [[WomanScorned Tala]] tampers with the process in a final act of defiance by reviving ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} instead. The evil alien invokes this trope by killing almost all of the remaining rogues for their efforts, with the caveat that, being a God of cruelty and tyranny, he genuinely considers a quick death a great reward.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse¿¿: Standard pratice of Emporer Bellos
** Resorts to this two times in "Hollow Mind" [[spoiler:when he tries to kill Luz, since the StableTimeLoop he needed her alive for has already been completed, and when he buries Hunter in his mind once he starts questioning Bellos. He has also done this to every [[ArtificialHuman Golden Guard]] bevor Hunter, which Bellos sees as [[ExpendableClone Expendable Clones]], and its implied that part of the reason he makes them is his enjoyment at getting to kill them once they aren't usabel for him.]]
** New heights are reached in "King's Tide" [[spoiler:where Belos not only betrays the Collector and attempts to leave him to rot in his prison, but he tries to pull this on every single person in the Boiling Isles who has ever served him, willingly or not, as an effect of the draining spell. When Kikimora asks what she could possibly do to gain his favor, he coldly tells her to "go find a hole to wither away in".]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse: Standard pratice of Emporer Bellos

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'' finale "London Town Treachery" has the Ant Hill Mob turned into miniature Mr. Hydes after drinking a tea that the Hooded Claw spiked with a Jekyll-Hyde formula. The Mob puts Penelope in a Claw-type death trap and the Claw subsequently tells his henchman the Bully Brothers they won't be needed anymore. The Bully Brothers have no recourse but to rescue Penelope to save their jobs.

* Happens at the climax of the Feoh/Ur Arc of ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls''. [[TheMole The Moles]], [[EvilChancellor Beasley]] and the Mortadella brothers, are thrown under the bus immediately by the Black Dogs after Kyril successfully infiltrates the Arcturus estate.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': After Aladdin gives the Genie's lamp to a disguised Jafar, he reaches up for Jafar to help pull him out of the collapsing Cave of Wonders. Instead, Jafar grabs him by the wrist and, when Aladdin asks what he's doing, Jafar says, "Giving you your reward! Your ''eternal'' reward!" and pulls out a dagger to kill him. It backfires, though when Abu bites Jafar's arm to save Aladdin -- while Aladdin falls back down into the cave, seemingly eliminating him as far as Jafar is concerned, it turns out that Abu has swiped the lamp, leaving Jafar with nothing.

** Genestealer Cults as well infiltrate Imperial worlds ahead of Tyranid splinter fleets, assist them in taking over the planet however way they can... and then end up as Tyranid chow once they've done their job. The cultists typically have no idea that this is going to happen, and are very unpleasantly surprised when what they thought were angelic saviors come to to their aid start slaughtering them.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Magus kills Sirleck as soon as he regains a body as he was working with Sirleck only to that end. It helps that Sirleck was also planning to betray him by permanently possessing his newfound body.

** The Nazi eugenic plan [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_T4 Action T4]] was a program of forced euthanasia under which physicians were directed to judge patients "incurably sick, by critical medical examination," and then administer to these patients a "[[MercyKill mercy death]]". 70,273 were killed under this program.